The New World
by christinaspencer
Summary: Mutants invade the city, and Bryce Lynch is one. Simon Peller won the first battle. Once he hated Blanks, now he hates Mutants. What happens when the mutants strike back? THIS IS THE STORY THAT SHOULD NOT BE, BUT I LIKE THE IDEAS AND WANTED TO FURTHER EXPLORE IT, NOT TO MENTION I HAVE SEEN CHRISTINA GROW EXPONENTIALLY, AND THAT THRILLS ME MORE THAN ANYTHING. PLEASE R R
1. Chapter 1

**The New World**

**EPILOGUE**

It was a non-descript science lab in a non-descript place. The

looks belied the true nature of what went on here.  
Behind the corridors of hidden razor wire and electronically

locking doors all the wonders of scientific progress was in

motion.  
As far as the Alters were concerned anyway.

Dr. Earl A. Vaughn turned on the tesla machine and carefully

measured the voltage, waited 10 seconds, then shut off the

machine. Then he dictated the results in a notebook.  
He was oblivious to the fact that his time among the living

was very short.

Somewhere down one of the many corridors, he thought he

heard a door slam.  
"Impossible," he muttered.  
Maybe he was overworked and just hearing things,  
He went back to his notebook, and read aloud  
"In-vitro experiments on pregnant women resulting in...

creation of genetically enhanced humans... advanced hearing,

strength... in one particular case... "  
He straightened his glasses.  
"Subject 1982-LLS, name Christina Elizabeth Campbell-

age... almost 16, father, John William Campbell, mother

Laurie Lorraine Spencer... current status, wanted fugitive for

various terrorist acts and one assassination attempt of Simon

Peller from Global District 2... blah blah blah... well too bad

for her... "  
Dr. Vaughn stopped and rubbed his eyes. He was getting

sidetracked.  
Down another corridor another door opened and slammed

shut. This time he ignored it.  
"Why am I here again!" he reminded himself. "Ah, yes!"  
He flipped to a blank page and started new notes.  
"Replicating mutations in -normal- humans."  
He smiled.  
"Probability of success-80%  
Ok, so it wasn't perfect. What he really needed was some

willing test subjects. His tesla machine was ready but

finding willing volunteers had proven to be difficult.  
"Doesn't anyone care about scientific progress anymore?"

Despite the viewpoint of Simon Peller, the Zik Zak

corporation, the Glaxon-kline pharmaceutical company and

various other global power players, Dr, Vaughn believed in

the experiments... he just believed it was best given to

responsible adults.  
"Two test subjects!" he exclaimed.  
He was very close, but all lab tests had been completed, and

there could be no more advancement.  
They had reached a plateau, any further developments could

only be obtained with live human subjects.

That was the wonder and the beauty of scientific progress.

Another door opened, and this time a shrieking alarm got his

full attention.

"So soon!?" he wondered.

Once upon a time, the experiments were an urban legend

shared in various places around the world, but thanks to the

actions of a 16 year old terrorist, it went very public very

fast.  
It was too much, too soon as a smattering of young people

with extraordinary abilities began to pop up in various

locations, as clumsily-designed laws were rushed into

legislation in order to combat this new, mysterious threat.

Dr, Vaughn worked in a junior university, before embarking

on this private project. He had an early idea of hiring some

students as apprentices. but when the full truth emerged, he

glanced over the ages of his students and fled to his secret

lab.

"So soon!?" he asked again.

He began to pack up then; downloading information to a usb

stick and shoving notes into a briefcase.  
He was moving; his heart rate increased as the alarm

continued to sound.

With normal humans, he may have been fast enough. What

entered the room next, was not normal.  
First he was slammed against the table by an unseen forse,

shattering test tubes and sending multi-colored liquid

everywhere. The tesla machine was unplugged and several components were ripped out.

Then there was a screaming pain in his head, and he opened

his mouth and screamed along with it.

As Dr. Vaughn lay crumpled in a writhing heap on the floor,

his assailants rifled and tore apart the lab. Files and

machine parts were grabbed and stuffed into backpacks, and the

usb stick was taken from the screaming Dr. Vaughn.

The assailents left fast, and Dr. Vaughn continued

screaming until, finally, his heart gaved out and hwe died on

the floor.  
The alarm continued to shriek.

XXX

"Stop... oh, please stop!"  
Bryce was flat on his back and strapped to a table. Tubes,

wires and other insidious things were sticking out of him.  
"I am... not a science experiment!" he cried out.  
Then someone leaned over him.  
It was Simon Peller!  
"You are if I say you are, mutant!"

"Noooo!"  
Bryce sat up in his bed in the back of his lab. Sweat poured

down his face.  
"No!" he whispered.

"Bryce! Bryce?! Were you dreaming?"

He rubbed his eyes. "I was... looking for another aspect to

my po... my abilities. Just kinda 'let go' and... "  
"So you dreamt about the boogeyman instead?"  
Bryce nodded slowly.

"Registration is coming to the city in a few days! They have

tests, registration, and curfew for young adults... _including _

_me_!"  
Bryce shook his head. "I still can't believe he won! Simon

Peller won!"

He looked at the screen.  
"Ok, I'm panicking... but why... I can fix it, right? I can

change the results of the test. And I don't even have to be

asleep!"  
He picked up his notebook, scribbled in some new ideas for

a virtual city he and Max were designing.

"Speaking of being asleep... you have a message. BEN

CHEVIOT wants to meet you in the parking garage."  
"I'm too tired... why not in the boardroom?"  
"Ok, let me be clear... his message reads and I quote... he

want's you to have 'less ritual and more fun'" Max winked.  
Bryce stared for a few more second, then rushed to get

dressed.

***  
"Where! How?!"

Kyle looked at the agitated boy before him, chuckled a litte.

"Relax, it wasn't that hard. Well, except for nearly getting

killed in the hospital. She just went completely off the wall.

It was really ugly, be glad you missed that."

Bryce frowned. He finally realized Christina was a fine

young woman, and her suffering such abuse at the hands of

Peller and others was unjust and unfair.  
And Simon Peller won!  
_And now he was coming for Bryce!_

The boy slumped.  
"It was a good wedding," he tried.  
"We saw it at Bigtime. We stayed with Reg and Dominique

for a while... untill Christina recovered."  
"Where is she now?"

"Over here!" she called out.

Bryce joined her. She was standing in front of the Max

Headroom barrier sign.  
"This the one? This the one that Edison hit... " she pointed to

it.

"That was the night he took my bike!" Kyle laughed.

Bryce nodded. "It was kind of a tourist attraction for a

while. Network 23 got better security after that.  
She pulled a cigarette from her coat.

"You look good," Bryce encouraged "I missed you guys! A

lot! I really enjoyed spending quality time with you and

Kyle."

"No more. I'm 'wanted' in ten states. I can't show my face in

public. We hide like moles. We live like... blanks!"  
She lit up the cigarette.

Bryce thought.  
"What if... what if you became a blank... "  
his eyes got wide "yeh! Christina Spencer, gone forever!"  
Christina frowned and threw down the cigarette.  
He smiled proudly. "I can erase your identity.  
You won't exist anymore! The law cannot arrest someone

that doesn't exist!" he laughed.  
"Dammit!"  
She turned to face him.  
"Don't you think I could have done that myself?!"

She turned back to the sign. God, how she missed her friend.

But, she no longer felt safe in cyberspace.

"Tho it wouldn't be much of a difference, I guess! I show my

face in public, and I get arrested. I become a blank, and I'm

nothing!"

"Hey... there's something I gotta tell you... it's about what

happened last time you were in cyberspace... "  
He pondered what to say. He and Max never did find the

vr-Christina who was made three months ago. They both

sadly accepted she was probably "killed" by a virus early on.

But he still wanted Christina to know about it. Maybe it

would help her feel better?

"Random patrols!" Kyle said, running to his bike.  
"Shit!" Christina followed him.  
Bryce went after her. "Christina, I have to tell you

something!"  
"Later, back to my hole! Maybe I'll see you in another three

months."  
She stopped, then suddenly hugged him.  
"Tell them I love them. Tell Max I'm ok, just... "  
"Oh," he sighed as tears fell onto his neck.  
"Gotta go!" Kyle hissed. Christina broke the embrace, turned

her tear-stained face away. "Remember what we said," she

tried smiling, then ran for the bike.

"Hey, Jenny's coming back!" he shouted to them as they went

off. He watched them go, turned back to the elevator.  
Yes, Jenny was off probation... and coming to work for 23

as Bryce's new apprentice.  
"Jenny," he sighed.  
It was... such a lovely name...


	2. Chapter 2

THE POLITICIAN  
Simon Peller, every one's favorite politician, looked up from

his paperwork.

"Back so soon? Those European summits don't last long do

they?"

Ronald approached the desk, stopping a few inches from the

edge.  
"Sorry I didn't get that?" he asked, looking directly at Peller.  
"I said I wasn't expecting you until tomorrow!" he looked

back at his paperwork "please ask Gabrielle to schedule you

for a hearing exam."  
"Right away sir!" Ronald said, popping some gum into his

mouth. "Can I see the updates?"

"There's a shipment of testing supplies due to arrive at the

hospital tomorrow... mandatory testing for ages 15 to 22.

Can you handle overseeing that?"  
Simon handed him a sheet, and Ronald took it, holding it up

and shielding his face.  
"I assume this isn't going to be a problem, Ronald."

He continued to hold the sheet in front of his face. "No, sir!

No problem at all." He lowered the sheet, smiling.

Simon pulled out another sheet. "There was an issue in

Sector 5. Something about a "young adult who was seen

walking THROUGH a wall... I can't help but ask, what is

stopping them from walking through the fortified walls of a

bank vault?!"  
"Hideous!" Ronald shuddered. He pointed to the sheet.

"That's why curfew was shortened by one hour?"  
"It will be announced on 23 in 30 minutes."  
"Doesn't give them much time to get indoors."  
"It will weed out some undesirables quickly. This is what

happens when they break the law! I tried to give them a

chance, yet I've seen no real proof of this so-called

altruistic behavior some claim to posses!"

"Well, there's not a lot of resistance. A few activist groups

with fewer members. No one cares for super-powered

humans much. You're having far more success with your

mutant witch hunt than you did rounding up those

heinous Blanks!"  
Peller looked sharply at Ronald, narrowed his eyes.  
"And you don't believe in... witches?"  
"Oh, but I do believe in witches... sir!"  
Peller frowned. The sudden formalities from his campaign

manager disturbed him, but he couldn't identify, why. He

brushed the feeling off and pulled out another sheet.  
"Genetic tests in our sector... tomorrow... I'll oversee this

one. Get a personal message off to Bryce Lynch at Network

23. I'd like to start with him," Simon smiled gleefully.  
Ronald nodded fast. "I'll get that message off right away"  
With that he turned and left.

THE CRIMINAL  
the next morning-

"Business, babe. Can't make it without creds, even illegal

creds. And I feel safer leaving you with them."  
"Missed! Already!"  
Christina took Kyle's hand as they walked down the alley.  
"I don't like it when you go... you're all I have... "  
"Five days." he kissed her forehead, then her lips.

"They know I'm coming?"  
"Give them this note." He handed her a large envelope.  
He stroked her hair. "Ask Dom about a touch up. That lovely

brown is showing through."  
She nodded and looked in a hand mirror, fingering her dyed-

blonde hair.  
"God I look so old... I look thirty!"  
"But a lovely thirty. Ok, go at... "  
"Couple hours. I don't feel like being alone for too long."

She slipped a ball hat on, and kissed him.  
"One love, babe. Hurry back!"

She went off, down to the bomb shelter/hidey hole and

waited.

This was Christina Spencer, a tender, empowered 16 yr old

but inside she was far older than her physical years. There were

even slivers of gray hair beginning to show in her bleached

mane.

Life on the run is rough and dangerous. Every

car is a cop's, every glance is accusatory, every friend a

potential informant. At 16, Christina's nerves were shattered, Her luck was

running out and she knew it. but she simply could not face the kind of hard

time that was waiting for her on the other end of that justice

system.

That's why she ran, again.

"I shoulda spent more time working out!" she shamed

herself. Christina finally collapsed after running from the

cops for twenty minutes.  
Her hands struck the pavement, and she found herself

surprised she was actually able to run THAT long.

There were sirens blaring behind her as she sat up, looking at

her scraped hands.  
Then her eyes went to her wrists, and traced the jagged ugly

scars that graced her skin.  
It was a shoddy job; the doctors did get the implants out  
but stitching her back up was more diffucult than they

anticipated; they could not keep her uncocious for long, and

it was hard to work on the struggling girl.

The sirens stopped. Christina pulled herself to her knees.  
"Ow!" she grabbed at her side and fell back. A drone flew by

as she dragged herself to a wall and leaned against it.

_I'm tired..._

The drone came down, hovering in front of her face, its

camera eye scanned her carefully.

"Fuck off!" she told the drone, looking around for a

cigarette.  
"Suspect identified!" a robotic voice answered, then the

drone zoomed back up.

The sirens stopped. Car doors opened and slammed shut, the sound of boots on

pavement echoed in the alley, moving towards her.

_He won..._

Her public "cry for help" went unnoticed. Silence may kill,

but those who screamed for help might also end up being

found and captured by their enemy.

It was a paranoid world she lived in, and the first sight of

real trouble people jumped on the bandwagon. Suddenly

everyone saw everyone else in an entirely new light.  
In this case it was all about the mutants.

_The bad guy won! _  
_Ok, let me make sure I understand this; he forces surgery on _

_me to dampen my power, his butcher-doctor screws up, and I _

_flip out and "attack him", then he blames me for a problem _

_HE created, and even better, the real persecutions start. _

_Young adults from all over monitored, segregated, forced _

_with genetic testing, or proof their parents were not part of _

_any test-group_  
_Is that is? Have I left anything out?_

"Move slowly!"

She looked up and found herself surrounded by metrocops.

_My head is killing me..._

"Now! On your feet... slowly!"

She moaned a little, the cramping in her side was getting

worse.

"Hands behind your back."

She nodded, and did so. Her head drooped a little.  
Was she actually falling asleep? Could she be that tired?

"Ok, make that call. Peller will be pleased."

Her arms were pushed up toward her shoulders, sending a

wave of pain through her that made her eyes open wide and she

cried out. Suddenly she saw ten stun guns shoved close to

her stomach and face.

"Do not move, mutant!"

_I'm wide awake now. How many times have I been 'punched _

_in the face'? Cos I lost count! Well, this time... I am NOT _

_apologizing!_

THE CAPTURE  
"This way sir. Here, sir. Want a mint, sir? Ahhh... not saying

you need it, it's just... "

"Problem, Ronald?!" Peller snapped, staring him in the eyes

for several seconds, before breaking into a warm smile.  
"There's no need to be nervous. We have... her... and we will

get rid of her."

Ronald the campaign manager shoved his hands in his

pockets.  
"They do make me nervous sometimes," he admitted.  
"Don't let them! Those mutants are all on the losing end,

they just don't know it!  
Christina Campbell, we'll be seeing her off personally. In

handcuffs and leg shackles. No mistakes this time. She

escaped twice, and trust me, it won't happen a third time!"  
"You are so correct, sir!" Ronald smiled in admiration. "No

sir, she won't! I know she wont!"  
Then he reached into his pocket.  
"Want some gum?"  
Peller stared him down.  
"It's cherry!"  
Peller didn't flinch, but the anger in his eyes was quite

evident.  
Ronald shrugged. "Leaves more for me, I guess. After you,

sir!"

Peller narrowed his eyes, moved ahead of him, wondering

why Ronald kept calling him 'sir', all of a sudden. It was

really annoying.


	3. Chapter 3

THE KIDNAPPING

"Inside, now! Hurry get in! I have to secure you before

Simon Peller gets here!"

Christina bent over, looked into the back seat.

A limo ride to the prison bus? Wonder if I get steak and wine

before I'm shipped off to that side of hell?

The metrocops weren't nice about "escorting" her into the

back seat. At least that's what the sudden jab in her lower

spine seemed to indicate. Plus, she had already been hit with

the stun gun when she tripped on the curb, and wasn't

looking forward to that again.

_He just tried to puncture my kidney! They are treating me _

_like an animal! For God's sake I'm just a kid... aren't I?_

She fount the kid-thought amusing and had to stifle a laugh.

She moved carefully and slowly, finally getting inside and

seated. Then the cop pulled out the leg shackles and secured

her feet and backed out quickly.  
"I hope you plan on helping me out, when we get... there... "  
"Be quiet, mutie!" The metrocop yelled, slammed the car

door.  
"Goddammit I won't have you shock me the next time I trip,

you bastard!"

There was no answer.  
"You son of a bitch!" she yelled to no one.

Dammit, Kyle was going to come back from his errand, find

out she had been taken off, and then he would go kill

someone. Most likely Simon Peller.

_Do I even care? It's funny but I don't know!_

The front door of the limo opened and slammed shut, and

she heard laughter.

Christina shifted her feet, the shackles rattling noisily. It

wasn't nearly as annoying as the handcuffs digging into her

wrists. She tried shifting herself to relieve the pressure. It

did little good.

_Is this absolutely necessary?_

The back door to the limo opened. "No! No one knows. This

is all private, and I want no interference. I worked very hard

to make sure this particular incident would never become

news! It defeats the purpose!"

Christina looked up as Peller's face came into view, and he

smiled at her triumphantly.  
"Oh, you have no idea how long I've waited for this! I'd lose

sleep at night. waiting for news of your capture."  
_Asshole_

"Don't expect your reporter friend to come and save you. No

one knows about this except my inner circle."  
He laughed then.  
"And I am making sure you are locked away and never have

a chance at escape. I will be with you until they slam your

cell door."

She was fuming but said nothing.

He pulled out his own stun gun.  
"So don't even think about trying anything."

She was ready to tell him to go straight to hell, when Ronald

got in and sat on the seat beside Christina. Peller rolled his

eyes. "I asked you to stay at the office."

"Better I'm here sir," Ronald replied.

The limo's engine was started and began moving. An off

balance Christina was thrown into the door. She braced

herself for another shock but Simon just sat the stun gun on

the seat beside him.

"Gum sir?!" Ronald held out the whole pack.  
"No, and for God's sake stop calling me sir!" Peller roared

at him.

Ronald looked angry, but slipped the gum back in his

pocket.

Simon Peller... you're asshole!"

"Wha... What did you call me?!"

"You heard me!" Ronald sneered. "It's because of bigots like

you that was afraid to go to school as a kid!"  
Ronald turned to Christina. "I ran away from home when I

was 10. My own dad thought I was a freak!"  
"Really!" Christina sighed, the truth dawning on her. She

figured Simon Peller must be sensing the truth as well. He

was sitting ramrod-straight, his eyes radiated fear.

"Who... the hell are YOU!?" Peller seethed.

Ronald turned to face him.  
And then, he wasn't Ronald anymore.  
Both Christina and Peller could only stare as the figure that

looked like Ronald, twitched, melted, and reformed as a

young girl with long black hair, dressed in an oversized

mens' suit.

The girl turned to Christina. "Took us forever to get into the

inner circle!" she smiled.  
"Shit!" Christina said in barely a whisper.

"Aaaah!" the girl cried out, as Simon shoved the gun into her

chest.  
"No!" Christina shoved up her feet, knocking the gun away

where it hit the window, cracking it.  
"Stop! stop stop stop and GET THE GODDAMN ROPE!"

the girl called out, banging on the separator window.

The unseen and possibly Altered driver slammed on the

brakes, making Christina fall from her seat and unable to

balance with shackles and chains.

Then there was a blinding pain coursing through her body

and she figured that Simon Peller got her with the gun.

Kicking out did her no good, both her feet were shackled

and all she did was flip over in a very tiny area

_Holy shit my neck is broken!_

The door was opened and Peller immediately tried to make a

run for it.

"Grab him! Come on we only practiced this a thousand

times!"

Christina tried to sit up, her head was spinning and she felt

sick. She willed with all her might not to vomit.

She turned her head slowly, waiting for her equilibrium to

catch up and saw Peller being shoved back into the limo,

now bound and gagged.

I just got saved... by alters!

"Well, thanks for your help!" the girl sneered at her.

"I got cuffs on stupid!" Christina shot back.

The girl smiled sheepishly.  
"Oh yeh! My bad!"

"Nevermind!" Christina said, blowing them off herself.  
The limo door began to close.  
"I WONT BE TRAPPED BACK HERE WITH HIM, LET

ME OUT!" she screamed.

The door opened back up as Christina slowly picked up the

cuffs and held them before her eyes.

"Yaaa... you won't get away with this you evil mutants so

help meaaaah!" Christina looked back to see the gag being

shoved back into his mouth. She picked up the broken leg

shackles, as a sense of anger and relief washed over her.

_Free... free? Oh God, he looks pissed! Wow, did I die and go _

_to heaven? This is beyond awesome! I'm really free!_

She narrowed her eyes, edging past him, pausing only to

slam the broken cuffs onto his chest. He jumped a little,

muttered something unintelligible through the gag.  
"You pig!" Christina hissed, before stepping outside.  
"Let me get that!" she told the girl, slamming the door shut

hard.  
_Did Peller just yell, "ow"? God what a beautiful dream I'm _

_having!_

YOUNG LOVE?  
"Hi."  
"He-looo!"

Bryce stood in the doorway of his lab, smiling a little. Jenny

put her hands behind her back. She smiled to, but a little

more.  
"Hiii," Bryce said again, noticing how lovely her eyes were.  
"Can I come in now?" she giggled.  
"Oh, whoah! I'm sorry!" he slapped his forehead.  
"Welcome to my lab!" he laughed. "I really look forward to

the results of our collective intelligence!"

Ugh, I sound like a dork!

She walked in slowly. "Ok, we'll get along as new partners.

Network 66 won't have me anymore... it was depressing, I

needed counseling!"  
She turned to him. "Mr. Cheviot offered me the job and as

soon as my probation was over, I signed up... I could like it

here more. Mr Grossberg was such a tyrant."

"Yeh, he was. I'm kinda glad I didn't end up working for

him... in retrospect... the pay was better, but... yeh... "

"Ok... well... we should get to work," Jenny said without any

real enthusiasm but with a smile.  
"Work... wave particle... " he pointed to his equipment. "I

solved it! But my success was a downer! I destroyed it and

now I'm trying to replicate it, using a different method."  
"Nice, but would you be interested in solving the mystery of

anti-matter?"  
"Anti-matter is so yesterday."  
He shoved his hands into his pockets, flashed a half-smile.  
"How about we go dancing instead?"  
"Dancing! Really? I'd love to... but what will Mr. Cheviot

say?"

Bryce went over and sat down at the computer.  
"Max! You gotta hold down the lab for me... "  
He smiled goofily. "Jenny's here... "  
"Jenny, of course! Hi Jenny!"  
"Hi, Max!" she waved.  
"Jenny did you know Bryce calls out your name in his sleep?"  
"No!" Bryce choked.  
"When he's not screaming about Simon Peller doing

experiments on him, that is!"  
"Oh, God, Max!" Bryce gasped in embarrassment.  
He looked at Jenny warily, just hoping Max hadn't blown it

for him.  
Her eyes were shut, but she was grinning happily.  
"Hee! Bryce! I think she likes you too!"

He raised an eyebrow. "Really? Like that?"  
"I got this, Bryce!" Max winked "gogogo! Before you turn

17!"  
"Huh!" he bounced a little in the chair. "Later, Max!"


	4. Chapter 4

THE KIDNAPPERS

"Going to the drive-thru, whaddaya want?"

As she sat in the passengers seat, beside a shapeshifting teen

girl and a very angry looking female driver, Christina rubbed

her sore wrists, opened the separator window and looked in

the back.

_I don't think... it's the most wonderful dream I've ever had..._

_is my ship finally coming in? Woah, saved by my own kind..._

_I guess... so what happens now?_

There was Simon Peller, still bound and gagged. He was

propped between two teens, Alex and Eryn.

_Yes! Alters just like she was, and they had managed to_

_kidnap Simon Peller!_

Is this my reward for all my suffering? That is so cool!

"What do you want?" the girl sitting beside her in the front

seat poked her.  
Christina turned back.  
"Hamburger, soda, nuggets?"

"I... ah... a disguise! Quick gimmee a hat! No I'll get in the

back. And get me nuggets and a diet cola!"

She hesitated only for a moment, and got in the back.  
"Hey," she said to the guy and girl.  
"I'm Eryn. That's Alex."  
"Yo!" Alex said.

_This is so crazy!_

Christina looked at Peller. His eyes flicked back and forth

between his captors, and then they came to rest on Christina.

She leaned forward, glaring back at him.  
"I just want you to know I didn't have anything to do with

this; I also want you to know I don't even give a shit! But

what I really want you to know is, I'm enjoying every second

of it!"  
She banged on the separator window. "Make it a regular

soda!"

===  
"We're here, everyone out. Think we need two strong men to

carry this guy to his room. Eryn has first shift."

"Oh, great just what I was looking forward too!" the young

blonde huffed as she threw the burger wrapper on the floor

of the limo.  
"You're the one that can keep him in the room!"

"I know!" Eryn said. "But I don't like it. Just lettin ya know."

The girl, the shapeshifter, turned to Christina. She pushed up

the sleeve of the mens' suit she still had on, and held out her

hand.  
"Dyana."  
Christina nodded uncertainly, cocked her head.  
"My dad tried to kill me," she admitted. She just didn't know

what else to say.  
"Oh!" Dyana hugged her. She returned the hug, feeling a

little more relaxed, and a little more grateful.

"Hey," Christina began, as she watched Alex and another

Alter named Frankie, lift Simon Peller from the back seat.

Alex had two hands under his arms and Frankie had his feet.

As they marched past Christina Simon began to protest,

albeit in muffled unintelligible words.  
"Wait! What are you gonna do? Kidnapping is great! And

there is no better feeling than him getting screwed over just

as much as we are. But, like, you got a plan? It's not like you

can just let him go after all this!"  
Christina followed the others, fast. She looked over her

shoulder but there was no one else around.

"Drown him in the river!" Alex laughed, causing Simon to

began screaming.  
"Down boy!" Eryn laughed. Simon whimpered a little, the

look in his eyes revealed fear.  
Christina wondered what she did to make him react so; she

didn't see anything out of the normal.

===  
"No, drowning! It's the most painful way!" Frankie said, as

he stuffed food into his mouth.  
Inside Simon's apartment at Syberus Condominiums,

Christina and her fellow Alters made themselves at home,

while Eryn kept watch over Simon in the man's bedroom.

"Impalement!" Alex insisted.  
"Drowning!" Frankie insisted.

_New charge: accomplice to murder. Not that I had a choice._

_Technically, Simon wasn't the only one who got kidnapped..._

"Let's take a vote then." Jaxie suggested. She was the oldest

at 21, Frankie, who could read and understand any language,

even dead ones, was 19, Eryn, Simon's current sitter was 18,

and possessed the frightening power of psionic mind-

blasting. Alex was 18 and another guy named Brain was 17,

but Christina was unsure what they did. Maybe they told her

but she was too overwhelmed and must have forgotten.

"Raise your hands for impalement!" Jaxie started, and thrust

her right hand up.

Jesus I can't believe they're talking about this while eating!

Christina didn't vote either way and that left the others

looking at her.  
"Break the tie!" Alex said.  
Christina shook her head. "Don't feel like it."

"Hey bring me a plate!" Eryn called out.

"We could try hanging. We're 100 floors up, right? Brain

suggested.

"Oh, God!" Christina slammed the fork down on her plate.

"Try aiming a liiiittle higher, would ya?"  
Frankie looked at the others, then to Christina. "You got

something more awesome in mind?"  
"Duh! Yeh!"

"Gotta go!" Alex said, pushing his plate aside and getting up.

"Business to attend to. I cast my vote and won't recant. See

you, around kids!" and with that, he left.

"Hay bring me my plate! And someone get this guy to the

can before things get ugly!"

Christina lowered her eyes. "Forget it. Won't work."

"What won't work!?" Dyana asked, intrigued.

"I want my plate, bitches!" Eryn screamed.

Christina slammed the ornate table and got up. She took

Jaxie's nearly untouched plate and stomped off.  
"I want to poison the steak!" Jaxie called.  
"Dyana! Come here!" Christina said. Frankie rushed on

ahead of her.

"Trussed up, just like livestock!" Frankie laughed.  
Christina stared at Simon Peller, bound hand and foot and a

gag in his mouth, staring at them all with fear and anger.

Slowly, Christina approached Eryn and handed her the plate,

not taking her eyes off Simon.

_Weird... good, but weird!_

"Thanks!" Eryn said, grabbing the plate. Frankie was

loosening the bonds enough so that Peller could use the

bathroom.

"Oh! Shit! What happened to that guy who's body you

shifted?!" Christina asked, suddenly alarmed.  
"He's out of town on assignment. Back tomorrow. Relax

no one knows, just us and Simon Peller."

THE PLAN

"Ok," Christina started to breathe again. She cocked her

head.  
_How to make the best of a bad situation..._

"Well... can you shift Simon Peller like that?"

Dyana made gagging noises.  
"Take that as a yes!" Christina said.  
"That is truly sick!" Dyna said.  
"Do it! Have 'him' clear me of the false charges! You too."  
Christina went around the room, and opened the closet door.  
"Pick a suit."  
"Hmmm," Dyna said, her eyes lighting up. "Make 'him' take

back... well, everything!"  
Christina stepped inside the walk-in closet. "Looks like a

suit and tie for every day of the week... make that, every

hour!"

"Oh, God, that's perfect!" Brain said.

"I am 'him'... and put in a massive retraction on everything!"

"It won't work!" Christina yelled "Jesus how many suitsdoes this guy need?

I can't even count that high!"  
She stuck her head out.  
"Peller's a douche and everyone knows it! He wouldn't

suddenly get a warm-fuzzy for Alters!"  
Christina frowned. "I'm sorry. If you can help me out with

my arrest, that'd be great. I'll be on my way then."

Frankie came out, followed slowly by Simon Peller.  
"A body-snatcher too! You... you think you can get away

with this?! Any of you?!"

Christina stormed out of the closet, dragging a female blow

up doll by its foot.  
"You bastard!" she held up the doll, which had a print-out

face attached to the head.  
It was the face of Theora Jones.  
"The hell?!" she demanded.  
Peller smirked, just shrugged.  
"It's a hobby... normal people do that sort of thing!"  
She screamed and then walloped him in the face with the

blow up doll.  
That is my adopted mom, you pervert!"~  
He was barely able to avoid the blow, but he was off-balance

and fell to the floor. Eryn stepped closer, smiling.  
"Wait! I want this fucker to remember this moment!" she

yelled. "We'll do it. Dyana get a suit."

"No, you were right the first time!" Peller looked up,

smiling. "No one will buy 'the new me'! You'll be caught, all

of you! And as for you, Miss Christtina Campbell... I'm

thinking prison is too good for you."

Dyna came out with a suit. "I can't decide. Brown or black?"

"Ah!" Christina scratched her head. "Hey, my bf is coming back in 3 days. We need a plan before

then."  
Brain sighed, clicked his fingers. "Oh, well."  
"Would he rat on us?" Eryn asked.  
Christina smirked.  
"No, he'd want a piece of the action!"

"No! Don't gag me again, you freak I said-urg!"  
Christina turned away and stomped out onto the balconey.

She tore the printout off the rubber doll, and threw the doll

over the balconey.  
"Well, damn that wasn't thought out!" she griped, watching

the doll float downward.  
"Yeh, it should have been Peller!"  
She turned to see Brain standing beside her.  
"I could have shown Edison! I'm sure he would love to

know about the nasty designs Peller has on his wife!"

"I saw you on that show. You looked pretty."  
"Thanks... "  
She turned to him.  
"I'm taken."  
"And I am less, for that!" he replied kindly "will your

boyfriend really help us?"  
"Against Simon Peller? He'd be the first to sell tickets!"

"I am, I am, I AM Simon Peller, and I LOVE mutants!"

Christina and Brain meandered back into the room, coming

upon a most bizarre sight.  
There was Simon Peller, bound and gagged in his bed. He

was rolled onto his side, and his eyes were closed. And

standing above him was also Simon Peller, aka Dyana the

shapeshifter.  
Dyana-Peller threw open his arms. "C'mon mutants, give us

a hug!"  
"Way... way... way over the top!" Christina said.  
"You're right!" Dyana-Peller looked down "the shoes are too

flashy!"  
"No, he's more stoic... an unfeeling bastard!"

"After this is over can we still drown him in the river?

Pleeese?" Frankie begged.

Peller tried to kick out, and muffled something that sounded

like "GUDMMFFF!"

"I gotta go!" Dyana-Peller said. "Oh goodie this is my

favorite part of being a guy! I don't have to squat!"

Christina sat down on the couch, picked up a notebook

labeled "APPOINTMENTS"

Peller whimpered again, and Christina looked up.

"Seriously dont do it, prick!" Eryn was sitting next to him,

gobbling down her food.  
"Could you make someone's head explode?" Christina

asked.  
Eryn stared at her blankly.

Christina shrugged and went back to the appointment book.  
"This bastard gets a parade?" Christina noted.

Peller worked the gag off, and said quietly, but firmly, "I

earned it! I'm saving my kind!"

"I can make his ears bleed!" Eryn suggested. Brain laughed.

"I wanna see that!"

"Well I don't! That's gross! Not to mention what good will it

do you to kill him?! Then he wins again?!"  
"Water under the bridge Miiiiiss Campbell! That already

happened because you and your kind made it happen! I can't

believe this is the thanks I get for trying to help YOU!"

"I'm ok with killing him," Jaxie said.

"Put the gag back in!" Christina snapped.  
She looked back at the appointment book.  
"We need an assasin."

Frankie waved his hands in the air. "Me, pick me!"  
"You have good aim?" Christina asked.  
"Crack-shot!" Frankie said proudly. "I never miss."


	5. Chapter 5

**THE YOUNG LOVERS**

***  
The Coral Temple was the last of three dance clubs that

Bryce and Jenny.  
"Same all over!" Bryce said sadly "Jenny no one wants us

around!"

It was the same club Kyle and Christina took him to, with

the same music and the same drinks,but with far less young

adults than last time. Those that were there did little

dancing, but were eyed carefully by most of the older adults.

There were a very few who tried to be civil, even then the

fear and paranoia was there, permeating the air like a thick,

poisonous cloud.

It's name could aptly be called Mutant-phobia.  
"Can we go? Let's go to the park."  
She smiled. "I want you to push me on the swing."  
His frown turned upside down and he looked at her.  
"I'm a... good swinger!" he said with a dumb but happy look

on his face.

The bartender looked up at the pounding noise, stared at the

two, kept staring.  
"Ok, let's go!" Jenny said. Bryce nodded and got up.

"Mutant!" someone called out. Bryce looked back but no

one gave any indication they were the one who made the

accusation.

They walked away from the club, eventually taking

each others hands.  
"I'm sorry Bryce. I am so sorry." Jenny shook her head, tears

flying off her face.  
"Why? you didn't make this happen."  
"I did! I made that evil toy for Mr. Grossberg!"  
The teen-genius stomped a foot. "That's where it started! I

feel so rotten! I'm thinkin of Christina and God, I hope she's

ok!"  
"She's fine, well kinda," Bryce cut in.  
Jenny didn't hear him, looked in his face. "I made a test... "

she shrugged "I came out positive... for genetic mutation... "  
She looked deep in his eyes, hoping for acceptance.  
"Bryce... what do you think?"  
He smiled, slightly nodded.  
"Oh, Bryce!"  
She impulsively hugged him.  
"Ah... my Jenny... " he hugged her back.

"Get in! Come on, hurry up it's almost curfew!"

They looked up at the car that approached them. It was

Edison and Theora, who had been looking for them for the

last 2 hours.  
"Aw! I lost track of the time! That has never happened to me,

beore!" Bryce wailed.

Secretly, Jenny hoped it was 'love'.

There was a table with food, banners everywhere, with

sayings like "WECOME JENNY", and "NETWORK 23

FOR THE FUTURE" and there were even balloons and

streamers. But if you listened close enough, you could hear

crickets chirping.  
Murray had on a party hat... Theora insisted... and he stood

there with one hand in his pocket and the other clutching a

party favor.

Theora handed plates with cake to Bryce and Jenny. "I'm

sorry, Ashwell was going to come but he is in the ER

because of a sprained finger... well that's what he said...

Bryce it's chocolate I know you like chocolate!" Theora

smiled.

"I'msasowwy!" Jenny burst into tears "this is all my fault! If I

had just stopped to think... why Mr. Grossberg... "  
"Please, no more," Theora said in a shaky voice. "When I

think of her out there somewhere... I know Kyle is with her,

but... "  
Theora had somewhat accepted the loss of Christina, who

had become something like a daughter to her, but it was still

painful to think about.  
"I think I know where she is," Bryce said, as he handed Jenny

some napkins.  
"Where!" Edison demanded.  
"When did you see her?!" Theora demanded.  
"Ah! Take us back to the lab... go see Reg and Dom they'll

know."

**THE MISSING FRIEND**  
"This way, " Dom crooked her finger, pointed to the dead

end of a long alley. She strolled across the pavement,

followed by Theora and Edison. "Kyle brought her to us

three months ago... she was really bad off from a shoddy

operation. It took about two weeks before she was back on

her feet."  
"We've been looking for her for three months now! And she

was right under our noses all along!" Edison said.  
"We kept it very private... that Simon Peller, well you

remember his war against the Blanks. We weren't about to

hand her over to him."  
"Good!" Edison agreed.

Dominique knocked on the makeshift door. "Christina?

Kyle!"  
There was no answer.  
"We need to get in there." Edison said. Dom looked at him.

"She's not safe from Simon Peller... or anyone else." he

stated.  
Dom nodded. "Ah, poor child. She was someones baby

once."  
"We're talking... but she's my first... as it were... your right.

We dont want Peller or anyone getting their hands on her...

she's too good for that."

"I know... " Dom thought, turned away, smiling wistfully  
wistfully. "she's so much like her mother, I expect..."

Theora raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?"  
Dom ignored her, pushed open the door.

Darkness and the smell of must poured out. Dom went in,

going down some stairs. "Let me get the lantern!"

Christina! Christina it's Theora! We're worried... "  
Edison followed, the lantern light revealed it was a bomb

shelter. There were murals painted on the walls, one of a

fancy Victorian era woman on horseback and a swarthy man

with long hair leading the horse. He moved in further,

passing not-so-gently used furniture with broken feet and

propped up by books, with dents and paint chips on the

floor. Makeshift curtains hung over some of the murals.  
He pulled back a curtain, revealing a small mural of Max

Headroom in his tv.  
Yes, this musty hovel was Christina's new home, Edison

thought sadly.  
"They don't go out much," Dom said. "It's just not safe... it's

a little easier for Kyle, but he usually works out of the city,

then she stays with us. He doesn't want her to be alone."

Edison smiled at Theora. The right woman could make all

the difference for a man, couldn't she?"

"This place is awful! I saw a rat!" Theora exclaimed.

Dom shook her head. "I don't know, it's weird... they get help

from us, from Bruno and others. Other than that, they are

always here."  
"We need to find something that can tell us where... they

might be!"

Edison picked up a notebook, looked at the last page, and

frowned.  
"What!?" Therora demanded.  
"Well, Kyle is on assignment again... says she was headed to

Bigtime, but that was two days ago... " He looked up, smiled

sadly "Dom I'm guessing she never made it... "


	6. Chapter 6

**STEP ONE**

"We'll make it. It's a good plan, Christina."

Christina and Brain were way high up on a building ledge,

looking down over the parade route. Security was in the

street below, setting up stands, putting barriers in place,

and other necessary details.

The plan was to "save Simon Peller's life". Or rather,

Dyana-as-Peller's life. Then after "Peller's crisis of

conscience" in a public forum, his first noble act would

be to clear all charges against Christina. The rest would

most likely sway public opinion, as the man who hated all

mutants... slowly developed a warm-fuzzy for them.

Ok, it was a little over-the-top, but it wasn't like she had a

lot of options.  
The rest was a big mystery; Simon Peller was safely

tucked away and under guard. What would happen to him,

eventually... well Christina didn't really care if the others

followed through on their threats to kill him. She was

willing to look the other way.  
Simon Peller was simply no use to anyone, but maybe one

day he would make a lovely flowerbed in someone's

garden.

"There. I think that's a clear path."

Brain pointed.

She looked down to the street. "That

corner? Ok, I'll stop there and wait for the signal... then rush

him. Frankie fires, hits the rearview mirror... "  
"And his backtracking begins... it's so perfect!"  
"No it's not it's _dumb as shit_! Stupidest idea ever! Simon

was right it will never work!" Christina snapped at him in

utter frustration.  
Brain was taken aback. "Well... then... why are you

bothering?"  
She was silent.  
"No one is forcing you to do this, we just wanted to help

our kind, is all. You are free to walk away at any time."

"Walk away... to what? I have nothing, if I'm caught I have

less than that!"  
"What about Kyle?" Brain noted. Christina detected a

note of amusement in his voice.  
She shrugged, looked at him.  
"He can't fix it... I could but I'd be cheating... "  
"Oh, what? It's not cheating now?" Brain laughed. "We

kidnapped a major politician! We're hijacking his life and

might well kill him in the end. That's not cheating? Did I

miss something?!"

In her heart, she wondered, even hoped... that maybe

Peller might see the error of his ways; maybe seeing

"himself" taking a pro-mutant/alter stance might change

his own opinion? At the very least, she could gain

freedom for herself and hopefully many others.  
She realized she was "overreacting" for a second time.

She grasped at the last straw with the hope, that this time,

it'd be different.

She looked at him, tears filling her eyes. "I don't know

what else to do... he thinks I'm the ringleader anyway and I

don't... expect that to change... "  
She shrugged. "I'm damned either way."  
Brain frowned. "I'm sorry for getting snarky. Wasn't

right."  
"No harm!"  
"Ok, good... so how about one date?"  
That made her smile. She was about to answer him with a

clever comment when Frankie bounded up on the roof.

"Sup, dawgs! Hey look at this cool rifle I found!"

Frankie had some kind of super-legs, and while unable to

leap tall buildings in a single bound, he could surely do it

in about 10 bounds.  
"Ski mask, black clothes... can I please kill him for

real?"

_Sadistic much? Not that I entirely give a shit..._

"Find a place to 'plant' him first. He'll make a lovely tree

some day." Christina said.  
"HAAAA! Ok, you wanna go down and call your friends

now?"

Christina mused. The first step to making it look legit.

Call Network 23 and let it slip that she overheard some

mutants that have nefarious plans to end "poor Simon's"

life.

_Help me, Edison... Max! Theora! Anyone!?_  
_Oh, fuck you, MISS Christina. That idea is even more _

_stupid than the current one! They can't help anymore; you _

_are on your own, so what are you going to do?!_

It went back to a saying she heard during the brief time

she spent with her grandfather: if the only choice you've

got is the wrong one, then it's not really the *wrong* one,

it's more like fate.

Murray McKensie lay awake in his bed. Sleep was a hard

to come by, these days. He was worried about his 15 year

old daughter, Annie. The ringing of the vu-phone made

him jump. He momentarily wondered if it was his ex-

wife, calling about Annie's genetic . He sat up,

rubbing his eyes, and answered.  
"Oh, God... Christina!" he picked up the receiver.  
"Where are you? You're on a secure line, yes? I can call

Edison-"  
"Wait!" she cut him off "I got no time. It's about the

parade!"  
"Zik Zak loves his ideas, but they have a corporation to

protect... " he excused.  
"Pellers an asshole, but I don't condone the murder of

anyone."  
"Murder!?" he looked closer at the screen. She was

looking around fast. Then she looked back at the screen.

Sadness washed over her face.  
"No they're here! I gotta go!"  
"Don't hang up!" he shouted at the now-blank screen.

Then he slammed the receiver down, picked it up again,

and called Bryce.

===  
"The poor girl... Bryce I ruined her life!" Jenny pouted, simultaneously wringing

her hands and dabbing the tears from her eyes.  
Bryce looked at her dreamily.

She was so beautiful when she pouted!

Max popped up on the screen.  
"Kissy-kissy later, Bryce! We have to find my fantasy

girl!"  
"I wasn't doing that!" he insisted.  
"You were about to!"

Jenny blinked.  
"Wow, you wanted to kiss me Bryce?"  
Her eyes looked hopeful.  
"I... well... I... "

I wanna carve our initials on a tree!~

"Edison and Theora on line 2!" Max yelled.

Bryce pulled back from the almost-kiss and so did Jenny.

They looked over at the vu-phone, picked up Murray's

phone message, and then catching Edison and Theora's

approving stare. Jenny rolled her eyes up, whistling

innocently as Bryce went to work, alibet with a nervous

cough.  
"The call originated from... sending you the coordinates,

now... "

Bryce saw Edison grab the page from the printer. He

frowned. "Don't bother, Edison. There's no one at that

phone now. Crowd of people a block away, but they are

all too old to be Christina."

"Damn!" Theora whispered and got up from their bed.  
Edison looked at Bryce carefully.  
"Alright... what was this about Simon's parade?"  
Bryce carefully explained what Murray told him. Up

above the computer, Bryce's parrot managed to work open

the door of his cage, got out and lighted on Jenny's

shoulder.  
She smiled at it knowingly, but a little sadly.

**THE BIG DAY**  
-next afternoon-  
"Get up! Come on, mutant! Get up!"

Christina opened one eye, saw Eryn shaking her awake

roughly.  
"The hell?"  
Eryn cocked her head and crossed her arns. "Fine time for

you and Dyana to party your brains out! You way-

overslept! Now get up and please peel Dyana off the

couch. She needs to get ready and obviously can't do it

herself!"  
"Wa... parade... wha... "  
"Today is the day of Simon's parade now PLEASE crawl

out from under your hangover and GET READY!"

Ah. Now she remembered the party. Kinda impromptu.

Kinda explain why her head felt like it was being

crushed in a vice.  
She slowly got up, staggered down the hall.  
"That way!" Eryn said, following her.  
"Make sure he's secure... let him watch the fun on tv

tonight. In fact, make sure he does. It'll be educational!'  
Eryn drolled at her, turned on her heels and stomped off

to Peller's room.  
Christina looked back.

Did Eryn just call her a bitch?

===

"How... do I look? Mean Ugly Full of hate?"  
Dyana-Peller looked in the bathroom mirror, as Christina

stood beside him. She handed "him" a tie.  
"You look ugly enough to me. You look like Simon

Peller!"  
"Yeeh... but I'm really appreciative of this massive

headache. I think it puts me in the mood! "

"He" made claw hands, swiping at the mirror. "Grrr! I'm

Simon Peller, and I eat mutants for breakfast!"

"Ahahahaaaa! Oh, don't HA make me laugh stop for God's

sake just HAHAHA! stop already!"  
Christina stomped out of the bedroom. Peller had worked

off the gag again, now he was shifting his bound feet

crazily. He stopped long enough to look right at her, at his

doppelganger who came and stood behind her.

"You idiots! Not only are you genetically wrong but you

are stupid as well!"

"Do we have to staple the gag on or what?! Eryn, where

are you?!" Christina called out.

"You do not resemble me in the slightest!" Peller

shouted "physical appearance aside, you can't just be ME!

No one willl believe it! You will never get away with

it!"

Dyana-Peller slapped Christina on the arm. "No way! He's

the stupid one! I had him completely fooled! Dork never

knew I was Ronald! And I tried to 'give myself' away. All

this pinhead could do was give me confused looks!"

Simon raised his head, looking at her.  
"Did you just call me a pinhead?"  
"Pinhead!" Dyana-Peller sneered, before flipping him the

bird.  
"Now that is just wildly inappropriate, Ms... whatever the

hell they call you... "  
He smiled and dropped his head back."A pinhead! Is that

the best you can come up with? I can think of a hundred

different derogatory terms, but a pinhead?A pinhead?! My

God can't you even try to be original, you uneducated

dolt!?"

Christina's jaw dropped open. She was not expecting a

speech, but it wasn't until she saw him pull his now free

arms from behind his back, that she knew he was only

distracting them.

"Get in here!" she called to Eryn, as she and Dyana-Peller

ran for him.

"Aaak!" Dyana-peller cried out as Pellers feet caught her

in the side.  
"Bastard!" Christina cried out, slapping him. He

responded by grabbing her hair.  
"Oooow ERYYYN!"

Eryn strolled casually into the room, and Simon promptly

released Christina, falling back on the bed, moaning

slightly.  
"Took you long enough!" DP shouted. "He could have

broken my rib!"  
"Did he?"  
"No,but-"  
"Ah! All's well then!"  
Eryn came over, helping the two tie him back up again.  
"What about you, missy? Why didn't you fry him? You

didn't need me."  
Missy?

"It usually ends up killing people, that's why!"  
Eryn shook her head. "So?"  
DP stepped between the two "WE'RE LATE!" "he"

screamed, then grabbed "his" head. "Aw, oooow! Fucking

hangover!"  
Christina was frozen in place, unable to tear away from

Eryn's furious stare.  
"Ready?" "he" asked.  
"R... right."  
Eryn turned back to Peller and continued reaffixing the bonds.

Christina watched anxiously. Simon opened his eyes

again, gazing at them in fear... and even a bit of wonder.  
"Make sure he watches himself on tv." Christina said.  
"Oooh, I'll order pizza!" Eryn turned to Peller.  
"Combination? Veggie? They got an asshole discount!"  
He didn't struggle or make a commotion of any kind. He

just stared at them... almost like he was studying them.

Christina finally became too uncomfortable at his staring

and at Eryn's hostile attitude, and fled the room. DP

followed.  
"Wait 10 minutes and go! You want cab fare? I got into

his safe! He's a real miser too!"  
Christina said nothing, just faced away from "him".  
"Christina? Hey don't go soft now! It's a great plan but I

need you!"

"We're all occupied, it's just the two of you out there

tonight. Big scary world, try not to get shot, huh?" Eryn

laughed loudly.

"I'll be there. I want it more than you know... it just feels

weird is all."  
"Weird! Haha! I'm gonna have to look like this most of

the time now! You know what? That's weird!"  
"Don't go soft now!" Christina chided.  
"He" looked around her shoulder and saw that she was

crying. "He" frowned, searched around the clothes, and

giving her a hanky, and smiling tenderly.  
"I wish I'da known you years ago. I bet we both would

have had much better lives!"  
"He" put his hand on his hips, smiled brightly. "But we

can now... after tonight... and a briiiief transition period...

"

DP fake-pouted then. "I'm sah sorry little mutant

Christina! How about I pay for your schooling?"  
Christina smiled at the thought of a bright future, for the

first time in her life.  
"What about some plastic surgery to fix those scars I so

maliciously inflicted on you?!" "he" began to laugh.  
"I want tatoos to cover them!" Christina said. Then she

pushed DP gently but firmly towards the door.

"Ok, go... bye bye Mr. Peller! Go on!"

Then she went back to the room.

"Will you make him watch?!' Christina demanded.  
Eryn rolled her eyes. "With pizza! Frankie is coming back

here right afterwards with Brain. I dunno where Jaxie and

Alex are, they kinda do their own thing anyway!"  
Eryn turned, slapped Peller on his leg, making him jump.  
"You want raisinets too?"

"fffp yyggg!"

"Raisinets it is!"

"I heard they're selling tshirts. Buy me one, I want to

remember the day that great and wonderful Christina

Campbell saved us all!" Eryn sneered.

Christina narrowed her eyes, turned and left.  
"Bitch!" Christina snapped.


	7. Chapter 7

"He" stood before the door, pondering for a

moment, rehashing the plan, and once confident

enough, "he" stepped over the threshold... then did

a small fistpump of self-affirmation.  
"Simon?"

"Coming!" "he" sighed loudly. "It takes time to look

this good. What you expect me to be in my own

parade and look like garbage?"  
DP stopped in front of Ronald.  
"Well? Do I have it? Speak up Ronald! Do I have

the look?"

Ronald looked him up and down, backed away and

looked him up and down again.  
He frowned then.  
"Something is off... way off."  
"Huh?"  
"You don't know?"  
"Tell me!"  
"Change the tie it clashes with the blazer."  
Ronald reached into his pocket, lifted out a

carefully folded blue tie.  
"I know I can count on you, Ronald." "he" turned to

go to the limo "wait!"  
"Yeh, Simon?"  
"You got any gum?"  
"I... well I don't chew gum... you want me to get

some?"  
"No, I was just... checking!"

(8-11-14 4.44pm-authors note. not so shameless

tribute here, to the memory of Robin Williams. After

spending several minutes in stunned, contemplative

silence, i finished the rest of this chapter. that said,

if you feel you need help, get help.  
there is no shame in having mental illness.  
dont let anyone tell you otherwise. ok back to your

regularly scheduled program!)

_Nobody likes me, everybody hates me... and it's _

_glorious!_

"Move move move! Ronald the peons are throwing

things at me!"

"Re... relax, Simon!" Ronald said.

DP, aka Dyana the alter who could shapeshift into

anyone she could touch for more than a few

seconds. Now she was Simon Peller, the mostly-

hated and yet midly-tolerated politician and "father"

of the anti-mutant agenda that ignited a firestorm

around the globe.  
Thanks, in no small part, to the actions of a well-

meaning, mostly adorable yet seriously pissed off

teenaged mutant called Christina Spencer-Campbell-Carter.  
But I digress.

Simon headed into the building that housed Network

23, and Ronald followed quickly. DP pulled off the

jacket and the fresh egg-stains along with it.  
"Get me another, fast!" DP said.  
"I've packed 3 extra, just in case. We must have

you at your best, Simon."  
"Ah... speaking of looking my best... I dispensed of

the limo with the hologram and we're going in a

BMW convertible."  
"A BM... a what?"  
"It's a car with a fold-up roof! Duh!"  
He looked in a mirror.  
"Gives my public a better view, don't you think?" DP

smiled.  
"I... yeh of course!" Ronald smiled "yes they should

have a good view of us."  
DP glared at him.  
"Of you."

DP looked at his watch.  
"I wanted to see Ben Cheviot first! Is he in the

parade? Let me see the checklist!"  
DP grabbed it from Ronald, as Edison and Theora

got off the elevator. DP lowered the list to his side,

stuck out a big hand, and smiled.  
Edison refused to take it, and Theora backed up a

little.  
"I can see we are ready for a fun-filled night of hate

and paranoia?!" Edison snapped. DP just smiled.

"Not so, Mr. Edison Carter! There are those who

fully support what I do... Zik Zak for one, I... I... "

_Oh, fuck I don't remember why!_  
DP turned to Ronald. "It was great! Remember it,

Ronald!?"  
"What, sponsoring your campaign? A chief

contributor?"  
"It's brilliant! DP yelped.  
"He" turned to Ediison and Theora. "I don't expect

to to see that... I really am saving the human race!"

"Bastard!" Theora hissed, and ran back to the

elevator. "I'm on control tonight. I won't be part of

that farce!"

"Did you take her off? Send her to prison finally?!"

he growled.  
DP looked confused, until Ronald whispered in "his"

ear.  
"Oh... your, um, child... well Mr. Carter... we haven't

found her yet... but don't worry... we will... "

I am so fucking gray! How dafuq this happen?!"

Christina whined.  
The parade route wound around the "good" parts of

town, and the crowd was thick, enthusiastic, and

Christina was bounced around among all the other

people. She tried to tear herself away from her

hair-obsession and focus on the task at hand.

_The crazy plan: Frankie hangs banners-SIMON _

_PELLER SUCKS and DEATH TO SIMON PELLER! _

_make note to "warn" someone. next step, save the _

_chumps life, at least in appearance... watch frankie _

_get away... watch Simon the asshole Peller have a _

_slow but definite change of heart... and pray the _

_real Simon Peller doesn't escape!_  
_PS-pluck out all the gray hairs from my head!_

Cheers went up as the BMW convertible rounded a

corner, coming into full this was eletist-

territory, the good part of town. Comprised mostly

of nuclear families, the wealthy, the 1%, they

appreciated his efforts, of being the voice that

finally cried out against this terrifying new threat.

"Oh, God... "

Simon Peller's words came back to haunt her.  
Her own doubt came back to haunt her.  
It. will. Not. WORK!

"So... make it work, bitch," she whispered to

herself.  
Hey!" she yelled at the closest person to her. Man

or woman, she didn't notice. "One of them is here!"  
"Don't touch meh I'm watching the parade!" the

person said, as a Zik Zak promotional bus passed

by first.  
"You don't understand they want to kill Simon

Peller!"  
"Dammit, you spilled my popcorn!"

Christina looked up to Frankie's building, as the first

of the two banners rolled out a darkened window.

SIMON PELLER SUCKS!

_Make it work! Make that bastard pay_  
_!_

"Up there! Up there! Damn you he's going to kill

Simon Peller!"  
She grabbed he arm of a cop and shook it roughly.

The man looked at her.

"Now, now! Relax! No one is getting killed tonight!"  
"They're fucking mutants, and Peller was right!

LOOK!"  
She pointed above to Frankie's window.  
"You look familiar... " the cop said.

"Incompetent ass!"  
With that she was off and running towards the

BMW.

The cop looked up, saw a long white banner with

black lettering flutter down to the street.  
"Hm!" the cop wondered.  
The second banner rolled out the window.

The cop mouthed the words written on it.  
"Death... to Simon... oh, shit!"

"Hey, look! WAY up in the... aw what the hell?"

"I need backup!" the cop yelled into his radio.

One of the cops sprinted across the pavement, and

saw a person running behind the BMW, and almost

catching up.  
"Get down! Mr. Peller, he has a... SIMON PELLER

GET DOWN!"

***

_Now? Now?!_

DP raised up "his" hands again, smiling brightly,

waving to the assembled masses

_How much longer? This is tiring!_

As if in answer to the question, a heavy weight

slammed into "his" back, and "he" was pushed

forward. Then Ronald grabbed for "him" and pulled

down. DP grabbed at the hands grabbing "his"

arms, and heard a pained shriek.  
The next instand found all three on the ground,

having toppled from the BMW. The driver hit his

head on the steering wheel after suddenly braking.  
"No!" DP cried out in horror, as "he" looked down

into the face of the one who pushed "him" from the

line of fire.  
It was Christina Spencer, but she was unconcious

and blood was running from her arm.

"That... that was not supposed to happen!" DP

screamed.

THE GAME CHANGER

_FAIL!_

Dyana as Pellar was dragged to the ground. The

area was cleared and secured.  
"No! Wait! Get off me! For Gods sake, why did that

happen?!"

_Failure! I was sure this was going to work! Frankie, _

_you idiot! Crack-shot my ass!_

"Up there!" DP pointed. A shadowy figure could be

seen, leaping from the window where the banners

were dropped from.

"They got a rifle! We need backup!" a cop said into

his radio. "Quickly! If it's a mutant we'll need heavy

firepower!"

"Are you ok?! Simon!"  
Ronald was shaking DP.  
"Whaaat!? Hey don't wrinkle the suit it's Armani you

twit!"  
"Uh... sorry!"

DP pushed his way through the cops, gathing

around Christina, who was still out cold, but being

treated by a worried paramedic.  
"That's her right?" a cop asked DP "the mutant,

Christina?"

"I... think... "

DP leaned in closer, looked up to the window, then

back at Christina.  
"Yeeh... but... but... "

"I want this girl under guard, she's a terrorist!"

Ronald said.  
"Excuse me, while I treat a shooting victim?!" the

paramedic begged.

DP squatted down, looked closer. "Why'd she do

that?" "he" turned to Ronald "she pushed me out of

the way... "

DP looked at the officer at his side.  
"What'd you see?!"  
"You want me to be honest?"  
"Yeeees... _after all, only politicians should lie!_" DP

snapped.

The cop looked up at the window, then back at

Christina, then glared at DP.

"I saw a waste of a good bullet!" the cop scowled.


	8. Chapter 8

"This is Edison Carter, coming to you, live and direct. A

stunning event occurred at the Zik Zak parade, when an

unknown assassin went after Simon Peller. It was an

unsuccessful attempt to end the man's life, when he was

pushed out of the way... "

Edison stood on the steps of the hospital, as Martinez

manned the camera. On his left was a anti-mutant crowd,

carrying various signs like "DOWN WITH MUTANTS" and

"MUTANTS=TERRORISTS"  
and gathered around were spectators, medical personnel,

and metrocops. High security was on guard in case riots

broke out. So far, thankfully, the latter wasn't the case.

Edison worked his mouth, deep in thought, then continued;

"by the very one he hates and fears; he was saved by a...

mutant... "

At control, Theora looked at the screen. She had major

mixed emotions. Simon Peller was still alive, and she

actually wished that bullet had found its target.  
And then there was his "mutant-savior".

"Of all the people that could have saved him... it was

Christina?!" Theora asked.  
"Apparently!" Edison was running up the steps to the front

doors of the hospital. "She got winged, nothing major."  
"Thank God," Theora said. "Well how is she?"  
"Come down here and ask her. Tell Murray to get someone

else on control. I'll try and interview Simon... so please wish

me luck!"  
"He lived!" Theora scowled.  
"Maybe it's better that way... he's slime but I'd hate to think

of the backlash that would come from an assassination of

such an 'important player' in this mess."  
"True!" Theora said as she got her jacket on "but honestly, I

don't know what could be worse... "

Edison entered the busy hospital. It was still a place where

the ill and injured received medical attention, but now the

place was packed with spectators and wounded alike.

Reporters from every network in the city had gathered here

in the last 30 minutes, either hoping for an interview with

any involved, or simply to get a better perspective for an

in-depth feature. Already, Network 4 was in discussion for a

talk show with a mutant and non-mutant as hosts.

Edison pushed his way through the crowd, towards Simon's

room. He wanted to check on Christina first, but Theora

was on her way, and he was still a reporter.  
Perhaps now, Cheviot would not be so acquiescent to Zik

Zak... perhaps Zik Zak might realize that there were more

important things, than profit.

Yeh, right!

"I'm with the network!" he told the guard in a somewhat-

cranky tone. He also found himself wishing Peller had been

killed, too.  
The guard backed up and let him in, and he was shocked at

what he saw.

Simon Peller looked confused, even a little... well... sad!  
The doctors were finishing their report, as he lay back on

the hospital bed, arms crossed over his chest, and staring

at the ceiling.

"Simon Peller... an assassin tried to kill you... sir, do you

have any words for our audience at this time?"

DP sat up.

_He looks pissed... it's working!_

"We're done here!" "he" snapped at the doctor.

Edison watched carefully, backing up a little.  
"Are you aware of who saved your... life, Simon?"

DP pulled on the shirt and the blazer, buttoned them up,

reached for the tie, then dropped it on the hospital bed.  
"He" looked up, narrowed his eyes.

"Christina Campbell?"  
Edison nodded slightly.  
"But... why?"

Edison pulled the camera to the side, glaring at Simon

Peller.  
"You really don't get it? That's what separates the human

from the inhuman!"

DP sneered. "Well... touche!"

"He" pushed past Edison, left the room, and a crowd surged

around him.  
"No... no comment... talk to Ronald... I said no comment at

this time!" and with that DP pushed through the masses, on

the way to Christina's room.

Theora had arrived, and now blocked the door.

"Leave her alone!" she growled, but reluctantly moved as

Edison nodded at her. DP smiled and entered, closing the

door behind them.

"What's going on? How could you let him alone with her?!"  
"Don't know... but I think he just realized who saved his

sorry ass."  
"Such a good girl," Theora sniffed.  
Edison yanked Theora aside as the door opened fast.  
He watched Simon come out, but was shocked... was  
Edison and Theora watched as Simon exited, and his eyes

were red and his cheeks were wet!

"Oh!" Theora gasped, stunned at his appearance. She

looked at Edison, but her husband looked as baffled as she

felt.

DP wiped "his" face furtively.  
"Somethin in my eye!" "he" grumbled.  
Turning to Edison, "he" said, "She... ah... "

"Say it!" Theora begged. Was there some vestige of

humanity in the man after all? "She saved your life! The one

you hate the most... showed pity on you!"  
"Ah!" DP waved over Ronald.

"We can have her off as soon as the doctor releases her."

Ronald said.  
"Nooo... go back to my office. Prepare a release. Notify the

chief of police... hm... I want all charges against Christina

Campbell... dropped!"  
"Simon!" Ronald began to protest.  
"Just do it!" "he" snapped, wiped "his" forehead, then turned

to Edison and Theora.  
"She can go home with you as soon as the doctor releases

her."

They were floored, rendered speechless, both looked at

each other, more bewildered than ever.  
"Puh! proof! And we want it, now!" Theora insisted.  
"You don't think we'd just take her without it, do you?"

Edison asked.  
"How do we know this isn't a trick?" Theora followed.

DP threw up "his" hands, stomped over to the reception

desk, and pulled the nurse from her chair. "He" smiled at

them sardonically and sat down. Ronald just looked at him,

scratching his head.  
"Hurry along, boy! Don't keep the happy couple waiting!"

DP yelled.

***  
Eryn dropped the plate on the tray table in front of Simon

Peller. He was tied securely, sitting upright in a velvet-

covered chair and facing the widescreen tv.

"Good God! I paid all those credits for pizza and you aren't

even eating!"  
Simon looked at her harshly.  
"Those were MY credits you mutant thief! Besides, I won't

touch that trash you call food! The least you could do is

cook me a damn steak!"

"Hmph! No raisinets for you then!"

He looked back at the tv and Edison't news report.  
"This... this is disgusting!"

"I'll say! We do all the work and she gets the praise?!"

The front door banged open, and in stalked a lanky figure in

black clothes and a full-face ski mask.

"Goddammit, I missed! What the hell? I never miss!"  
Frankie bounded into the room, pulled off the mask, and

smiled brightly.  
Then he leveled the barrel at Simon Peller's head.  
"Let me try again!"


	9. Chapter 9

YOU REALLY CANT GO HOME AGAIN

"It's not quite the way you last saw it." Theora

smiled "we are in the process of building the

nursery-"

After Ronald got them the paperwork and

Christina was released, Edison and Theora took

her back to their place.

Christina slowly stepped across the threshold,

eyes going over the apartment. She was last

here 3 months ago, but it seemed like centuries.  
"Oooh! A baby! Theora, that's great!"  
"Oh, not yet! But... " she smiled "perhaps within

the next few months."

"You should go for it now! Everyone deserves to

be happy!" Christina insisted, slowly moving

about the apartment, taking in every detail.  
"Speaking of happiness... oh, my God! Christina!

This is all official! Christina you're free!"

She came across the banners, picked up the

one that said "Welcome Jenny"

Right. Jenny. How could I ever forget...

"I know it's so hard to believe... Bryce verified

it."  
Theora held out the papers to her.  
"I know!" Christina snapped, pushing the papers

away "Sorry... it's just so... so... unreal... "  
Theora frowned slightly. "It is."  
She handed the girl the papers.

"I wanna talk to her!" Max chirped.  
Christina half-smiled, sat down in front of the

computer.  
"Been a long time... " she sighed wistfully.  
"Hold em up to the screen! I wanna see your

emancipation papers!" Max said excitedly.

"What about some hot chocolate?" Theora

piped.

Christina held up the papers. Max leaned closed,

only to see the paper slide away from his vision,

and next he heard was a THUMP!

"Theo! Ed! Christina fainted! Maybe she died!"

Edison and Theora rushed over.  
"I'm just woozy," she said as Theora put a pillow

under her head.

"Let me get some water!" Edison said.  
"Christina, are you alright? Talk to me!" Theora

begged.

_Talk? Well stop coddling me for one thing I'm not _

_a child. I have gray hair for God's sake!_

"I need to lie down... ah... my old room... think a

nice quiet dark room be best... "

"Ok, best to get up slowly," Edison said. She got

to her knees first, steadied herself and got to her

feet. Theora helped her to her old room and

nursery-in-the-making.  
"Oh... just... you gotta go for it!" Christina said,

as she sat on the edge of the bed.

"It's... in the cards," Edison said, now feeling a

little shy.  
"Grab it!" Christina encouraged.  
She picked up a small stuffed animal, a little grey

teddy bear in a blue tuxedo.  
"First baby gift!" she handed it to Theora.

Theora looked at Edison. Edison looked at

Theora. They didn't need to say that her

somewhat-odd behavior was evident to anyone

with a pulse.  
"Well, maybe not. Looks dirty!" Christina rubbed

it with her thumb.

"Christina I know this is a bit of a shock," Theora

sat beside her. "you understand what happened

here? With Simon Peller?"

_Yeh, we fooled every one of you! Maybe Alters _

_are a superior breed._

"You are too damn nice to me!" she sighed,

resting her head on Theora's shoulder and took

the papers.  
"Read it out loud," Edison encouraged.  
"Not important!" She handed him the papers "he

did the right thing, yes? He saw that I'm... just as

good as he is... people can change you know."  
Edison laughed lightly. "Yeh, but Simon Peller?"

"Even Simon Peller!" she insisted, crawling

under the sheets, hoping they would take the

hint.  
They did, turned out the light, leaving her alone

with just the glow from the tv.

"Finally!" she turned on the room vent, and lit up

a smoke.

"That is sooooooooo bad for your health!" Max

popped up on the screen.  
"No lectures please!" She pulled up her hair.

"Gray, Max!"  
"It makes you look dignified. Christina, come

inside! Bryce and I are working on a new matrix

world. We want you to be a big part of it."  
"Maybe later?"  
"I guess. You don't want to spend the rem state

in here?"  
"Not tonight... later."  
She began to throw the blanket over the screen,

then hugged it.  
"Goo-nite Max. Everything gonna be ok, Max.

Later on, we'll celebrate."  
"And you swear this is nothing personal?"  
Christina noticed his silhouette bobbing

frantically behind the blanket as he tried to find a

way to look out.  
"I promise it's nothing personal Max."

She lay awake for another hour, waiting for

Theora and Edison to fall asleep. It actually felt

like centuries. She left very quietly, running down

the moving escalator, unexpectedly meeting up

with  
"Brain! Oh, God!"  
She hugged him, dropped his head on his chest.  
"I barely got out! Ok, let's go."  
He sighed happily, squeezed her gently.  
"Straight up, then!" He smiled. He slid his hands

down to her lower back. "Hand's on my

shoulders!"  
And with that, they soared upwards.  
"Oh... God!" she sighed, as the ground fell away,

as they soared up, high above the city.  
"Beautiful!" she whispered. "How? I thought you

just turned invisible!"  
"You want scientific or layman's terms?" he

giggled.

"Short version... " she whispered, suddenly

lightheaded and a little nauseous.  
"I am bending light-waves around myself. There's

no visible distortion... kind of like what Eryn does

but with light... ok, I'll stop!"  
He lightly kissed the top of her head.

***  
"... and here we have... the stethoscope... "  
Bryce held up the medical device.  
"It's used to measure... to measure... "

In his lab, Bryce tried not to laugh. Jenny sat

before him, smiling in giddy glee. Around them,

the computers and machines were set to

automatic, and no new experiments were

happening today.  
Just on each other.  
"A person's heartbeat!" she nodded, then

frowned. "Not seductive enough! Ok, let me try

again... "  
She closed her eyes. "Press it to my chest,

Bryce... "  
"Of... course... it's a little cold but I can... blow on

your chest to warm you up... "

"MALPRACTICE! HAHAHA!"

The booming voice made them jump back from

each-other.  
"Kyle!? Kyle!" Bryce said. He jumped up to hug

him, but instead offered an awkward high-five.  
"Like this, Bryce!"  
"How'd you get in?"  
"Tell my dad to change his codes already."  
Jenny moved across the room, stood in front of

the cage, and the parrot opened the door and

lighted on her shoulder.  
"Hello Kyle! Are you being a good boy, Kyle?"

the parrot asked.  
"She can talk to animals, and they can talk to

her... through their minds!" Bryce said proudly.  
"It's been so long! How are you Kyle Jennings?"

she put out her hand while the parrot put out his

wing.

Bryce looked around. He was happy but troubled as well.  
"Christina slipped out

again in the middle of the night... did you hear?"

Bryce asked.  
"Simon Peller is recanting! Well, a little bit. Christina saved his sorry life, and he appears to be having a crisis-of conscience!" Jenny enthused.

kyle lit up a cigarette.

"It's on every news channel." He sighed sadly.  
"Well, dammit! Does that mean I can't kill him

now?!" Kyle laughed.  
Bryce, Jenny and Kyle watched the latest news intently.  
"This is actually happening!" Bryce said, amazed

at the change of heart Simon Peller was

experiencing.  
"Too much to hope for?" Jenny asked.

Kyle got up. "Let's get to the heart of the matter.

Think he'll mind if I show up at his afternoon

press conference?"  
"Oh, yeh! The feeling game!" Bryce understood.

"Well if anyone can figure it out, you could,

right?"  
"Everything looks legit. We've been analysing

this all morning." Jenny shrugged "there's nothing

out of order... except we think he drank too much

coffee."  
"Coffee alters moods but not that much."  
"How much can you know?" Bryce asked.  
"Well, put simply, I'm the ultimate lie detector."  
"We need a team!" Jenny said "Now is the

chance. You, me, Christina-"  
"Later, later! Best to know where we stand first."


	10. Chapter 10

**A VERY BORING PRESS CONFERENCE**  
"When did you get back?! Where's Christina?!"  
Kyle mounted the stairs at 1 Guvurn Street, it was the building

that was also Simon Peller's office, located in the same area as

Metrocop Central, the Admarket, and the tax bureau.  
Edison spoke into the camera. "Ready to go live in 1 minute."  
Then he stuck out his hand. "I'm hoping you can clear the air.

Something's fishy. Well have you seen her? She left during the

night. Nerves I guess. She took her paperwork."  
Kyle frowned, shrugged.  
"The air will clear in about 30 seconds."  
"Then you hold the camera."  
"Thank you for your trust, Mr. Carter!"

***  
"No comment on that!"

Edison watched as Simon Peller sat down carefully, a big grin

across his face "I haven't decided about all I intend to do... uh...

I said once that all muTANTS could not be put into the same

box... and that it wasn't my intent to treat them all alike... take

little Christina Campbell for example! She's not SO bad."  
He pointed to the young girl in a seat close to his desk.  
Christina tried to keep her mind off her 'empath-empowered"

boyfriend that came in with her adopted dad, tho she was

perfectly aware, as he was, the situation was more than it

appeared to be.

"Ah... yeh," she stammered "I... I had to find out the truth about

you too, Mr. Peller... why I came back... these papers... "  
She waved them around, looked down nervously. The

presence of Kyle had her nerves on edge.  
There was no real fear of Kyle "ratting them out". She knew him

well, and she knew a part of him was laughing inside. But her

tryst with Brain was a different matter. They hadn't done

anything clandestine. But she knew in her heart, her attraction

for both men.  
Kyle knew it too, and the guilt sat in her stomach like a heavy

rock.

"And your opinion?"

"Huh? What?" Christina looked at the reporter from Network 12

stupidly.  
Network 12 pulled the mic from her face. "Your question was,

Mr. Peller?"

DP glanced at Christina, and Christina glanced at DP. It wasn't

all the other reporters that made the partners-in-crime nervous,

it was the presence, and wary look, from Edison Carter.

"Ah... well... how the young lady felt about school... "  
DP looked down at "his" notes.  
"The young lady wants to study psychology."  
"Child psychology... there's just no hope for adults, but the...

young people have a fighting chance."

"Haha! Of course. Well, you really opened my eyes. I have so

much to learn. Me already 40 and so very much to learn!"  
"I thought you were 38 years old, Simon!" Edison countered,

making Kyle snicker.

"I. Feel. 40." DP insisted. "He" smiled assuredly. "PLEASE don't

remind me how close I am. I find it quite discouraging."

Edison remained silent, and DP knew the crisis-point had past.

"I find her desire to improve herself to be quite noble," DP

continued, eyes looking over all the other reporters, including

Edison Carter.

"And the rest... the rest of the mutants in society-"  
"Altered!" Christina chimed in "well... I mean 'mutant' sounds

insulting is all. It's derogatory!"  
"Ronald, note that!" DP ordered.

Ronald shook his head for the millionth time in the last 24 hours,

but complied.

"The rest I have to review. Curfews, registration,

penalties...yaaawn... not a fun time to be such an important

figure, but I made a commitment to serve my people, and serve

my people I shall!"  
DP slapped the desk, smiling.  
Press conference over!"

***

"That was fun!" Kyle said sarcastically. He handed Edison the

camera.  
"What is going on?!" Edison demanded.  
"Later! I need time with my girl... " he looked down, but Edison

saw the pain in his eyes.  
Kyle bit his lip.

"Tell her I'll be waiting out in the lobby... "

He went over to Christina. "You want a ride back to... Theora

was worried when you ran off... we all... worried... "

She looked up from her chair.  
"You're entitled. I needed confirmation."  
She looked down and back up.  
"I'll come... home... later. I... need to examine this for myself."  
"Kyle can tell you everything there is to know!" Edison reminded

her.  
"Yeh, but... I need to know for me."  
She never once made eye contact, just looked everywhere

around the room but never at him.  
Edison frowned. "Christina, is this what you want?"

Shrugging, tears filling her eyes, she asked "Since when was

my life about what I want?"

***  
TROUBLE IN PARADISE  
"Nice play!"  
Kyle smiled, then laughed.  
"Oh, God! That was just too cool!"  
"Kyle... it's going too well... Kyle please don't tell anyone!"  
He waved a hand in the air. "You know me, I don't give one rats

ass what happened to Simon Peller... just... ah!"

He got on his knees, pulled out a small box, and opened it.  
"Marry me!"  
"Oh... my God!" Tears spilled from her eyes. It was the most

beautiful ring she ever saw.  
"I saw the big stunning announcement, and bought a train ticket home and spent the rest on the ring. We got 1 credit tube and 100$ to get us through the month. But I figured, all was well now and I didn't need to... well now that it's out of... the way... " tears filled his eyes as well,

but he tried smiling.  
"You... want time... you... need time to think about it... "  
She tried to speak, but tears choked off her voice, and she only

nodded.  
He pulled the ring box back slowly, and closed it.  
"You taught me so much... you made me a better man... and I... I

am going to do my best... to be mature about this... "  
He slipped the box into his pocket. He leaned into kiss her lips,

then switched and kissed her forehead.  
Then he left, fast, moved off quickly, leaving Christina in heavy

tears.


	11. Chapter 11

A BRIEF BUT NECESSARY INTERLUDE  
It was a non-descript abandoned underground makeshift

laboratory, under a non-descript former cathedral that was

destroyed in the war. Underneath the partially crumbled walls,

there was a warehouse-sized facility. It was filled with all matter

of scientific equipment, from the ancient to the more modern.  
That equipment was basic and non-descript too. What really

stood out, was a raised platform that was about 20 square feet,

and on this platform was 2 round cages measuring about 7 feet

high. The cages were 5 feet apart, and connected at the top by

various colored wired and two large copper coils. When this "tesla-machine" was turned on it would send a human-penetrating electrical currency down into the cages, to envelop whatever might be inside them at the time.  
In this instance, it was two dogs, a poodle and a rottweiler.  
The poodle survived but the rottweiler was an exploded bloody mess.

The operator frowned, but then smiled.  
"Almost there!" he said.


	12. Chapter 12

**"Simon Peller's" good deed.**

A tired Dyana and Christina sad in one of the back rooms in Peller's

office complex. They had dismissed everyone for the afternoon,

and the two girls sat on the couch, and painted their nails.  
A call came in from Eryn first, updating them on the hostage

situation.  
"He's still alive! We uh... decided not to kill him... at least not

today... but tomorrow holds many promises, doesn't it?"  
Dyana looked at Christina, who was determined to ignore anything

her fellow-alter, Eryn, had to say.  
Christina glanced at Dyana nervously. The longer Peller was around

more dangerous the situation became.  
"We should move him somewhere, like a desert island with no

hope of being found," she whispered to Dyana.

Alex leaned into view. "We're just rethinking, is all. Rest assured the  
hate-monger is properly restrained." he smiled, nodded, and  
moved out of view.

Eryn leaned back in, her eyes radiated sarcasm.  
"How's that? Happy with that report?"

"Sounds good to me!" Dyana sighed. Eryn looked over to

Christina. "What about you, little miss savior?"

Christina narrowed her eyes.  
"Fuck you, too!" she replied.  
"Leave her alone! You are so jealous... and you really gotta quit it... "  
Dyana leaned into the screen, her oversized Peller-outfit slipping  
down, revealing her shoulders.

"Don't blow it, Eryn! Any one of us goes down and the rest of us go  
along for the ride!"

"You're right... I can't imagine serving time in the same prison as  
little miss savior here! Little miss perfect!"

Furious now, Christina send a charge into the phone.  
"Oooow!" Eryn yelled, dropping the receiver.  
"Woah! Can she reach me from here?!"

"Nah. She needs to be pretty close. Knock it off, Eryn!" Dyana  
warned.

"Bite me!" Eryn said, punched the screen and disconnected the  
call.

"Bitch!" Christina said. "We did her a favor! Damn ingrate!"

Dyana held out a pack.  
"Gum?"

Christina pulled out a cigarette. "Later. What's next?"

"Zik Zak called. A rep named Kelly. He's kind of skittish about this  
new deal, but I told him to give it heavy thought. Until then, he says  
only Zik Zak funds can be used to fund the anti-mutant agenda.  
Maybe you should talk to him?"

"Why me?"

"Well you're adopted parents ARE 23, you have an in... plus there  
is the 'I'm dating the son of the chairman' and all."

"Let's not talk about Kyle!" she begged.

"Just sayin. Nepotism doesn't have to be a bad thing! Alright, what's  
next? What other way can we improve out position in society?"

Christina took a drag from the cigarette.

"Hm! Stage a fake explosion... we dress up in capes and masks and save the day!"  
Christina suggested.

Then she laughed.

"LAAAAAAAME HAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

"I got it! I got it!" Dyana said. "Whoa! I need to rent another car!"  
She closed the bottle and jumped up, blowing on her nails and  
running from the room.

"Make it a Prius!" Christina called, as she hurried to finish her nails.

***

DP parked the car and slipped on a pair of sunglasses.  
"How do I look?"  
"Like Simon Peller in a polo shirt and khakis... acting like he drank  
too much coffee!"

She fiddled with the small camera, laughing. "You're acting weird,  
Mr. Peller! Like one of them damn mutants saved your life and gave  
you a whole new outlook!"

"I feeeel so... diiiiiiiiiiiferent inside! What is this change coming over  
me?"

Christina didn't hear the last part, just caressed her scarred wrists,  
lost in thought. She came out of it, when DP dropped 3 briefcases  
onto her lap.

"This was all the cash i could get from his bank account. I'll make a  
heartfelt speech and you can hand this stuff out to anyone who  
wants it."

"Righto!" Christina said, as she and DP exited and locked the car.

It was a dreary place, the Fringes. A perennial cloud of doom came  
to hover there long ago, and never left. It was a place overcrowded  
with  
people on the bottom of human existence.  
The poor, the homeless, the jobless, the drug addicts, and the  
Blanks.

And it was here, that DP and Christina went, on a mission of goodwill;  
to prove to everyone with a pulse, Simon Peller was a truly  
changed slimeball-politician.

"That way, Bigtime bus is over there... well maybe it moved by  
now." Christina pointed. DP led the way, winding the way through  
the alley, and coming upon "the quad"

the Quad can best be described as the downtown of the Fringes. It  
had a "mall" a long line of portable kiosks, selling such amazing  
items like rats for eating, and a "used car lot" but with shopping  
carts instead of cars.

"This place is horrible! Oh, yuk! I heard the Fringes were bad, but  
this is almost too much!" DP said.

"It's a litte dirty," Christina agreed.

"For sure... kay hold this! Here I go! MY PEOPLE! MY LOVELY CONSTITUENTS! I BRING YOU GIFTS, FREE OF CHARGE!"

DP stood there, clicked "his" fingers at Christina, who handed him  
the first of three briefcases.

A man selling rats from a cart looked up, and growled deep in his  
chest.

"We should have called Edison," she told DP, suddenly worried.  
"Nonsense! Once they see all the money I'm giving away, they are  
going to hug us!"

The salesman at the "used shopping cart lot" also looked up. His  
eyes narrowed, and he threw down the toy horn he was holding,

then stepped on it angrily. It emitted a off-key wail, that scared off

a scrounging pigeon.

"Simon Peller?!" Someone shouted.  
"Simon Peller!" someone else screamed.

One after another, the citizens of the Fringes took notice of the  
eletist bigot who dared to invade THEIR home.

"They hate the sight of "you"! Ah, plan! Maybe we need more time to formulate a better plan?

The fringers were moving about fast, gathering up sticks, broken bottles, and anything else that could be used as a weapon.

"We... better go... " Christina whispered.

"AGAIN MY NAME IS SIMON PELLER AND I COME IN PEACE!"

The frenzied crowd moved toward them quickly.

"Ok, that didn't go well!" DP said, dropping the briefcase and

Christina dropped the camera and the mob surged on the fleeing  
alters.

"The prius! Oh, hell where'd we park it! It was right here!" DP said.

"You mean that?"

She pointed at a crowd of homeless folks gathered around in a  
huddle. There were bashes, thunks, and scrapes, and a strange  
pile of metal parts was gathered at their feet.

"Is that a solenoid?" DP asked as the strange coiled object landed  
near his feet.

"The prius!" Christina realised. "Carjackers!"

"Oh HOLY HELL!" DP looked back to see the enraged fringer  
mob bearing down on them. 

"This way! Come on!"  
It was Brain, in a motorcycle-driven rickshaw. DP and Christina

clambered into the cart.  
"Coulda gone better I guess!" DP said. Christina looked back as the  
rickshaw was barely able to keep ahead of the mob chasing it.

"Gee, ya think? Oh!" she realized, and she opened the briefcases and threw out  
the money, hoping it might give them time to get away. It worked  
somewhat, as greedy bodies grabbed for the cash and others fell  
over them. The rickshaw rounded a corner, and Christina yelled

"STOP! GET OUT! GET DOWN!" and then she poked DP.  
"Change! Hurry!"

"Check!" DP said, and as the mob rounded the corner, Dyana was  
frantically pointing, "They went that way!"

Then she breathed a sigh of relief as the mob headed off in pursuit  
of "Simon Peller".

"Perfect!" She smiled to herself, pushed up the now-oversized

sleeves and turned to Brain and Christina.  
Brain was hunched down on the ground, and arm around Christina,  
as the girl visibly trembled in his arms.

"They fell for it." Dyana went over to her new friend.

Then she noticed Christina was crying, and sat beside the two.  
"Didn't work out with Kyle I guess," Brain whispered.


	13. Chapter 13

**WE'VE GOT A MYSTERY ON OUR HANDS!**  
-network 23-

"A penny for your thoughts. Ok, how about 2... I ask because I''m

that desperate."  
Kyle sat in the lobby, a whiskey flask on his lap. He looked up.

"You hide it so well! No one will ever understand how Edison

Carter really feels... well, no one, except me."  
Edison eyed the flask. "I'm guessing it didn't go well?"  
"That's a good guess!"  
"Ok... before you get too blitzed... come up to Bryce's lab... we

need your help... "  
"Hmf! Just wanna exploit my psychic powers!"  
He leaned forward.  
"Kidding, I really don't care now. I want you to know what's going

on... "

***  
Edison poked the screen.  
"I hate saying this... I'm willing to bet... that's not Simon Peller...  
They had all gathered in Bryce's lab; Murray, Edison, Theora,

Bryce and Jenny, and were trying to find some explanation for the

amazing and bizarre turn of events.

Kyle sat back away from the others, in the shadows and deep in

thought. He was about to do something he might regret, but he

truly didn't care that much.

"I don't get it," Murray said "Of course it is. We even ran the lie

analyzer on him, and he wasn't lying."  
"He's behaving too oddly!" Edison insisted.

"Bryce and I are convinced it's a case of too much coffee...  
whoah! Maybe he's taking drugs?!" Jenny mused.  
"Doesn't seem like he would. The man's a prude," Theora said.

Edison thought, and so hard, his head actually ached.  
"Possession?"  
"Eh?" Murray wondered.  
"An Alter with the ability to posses another body?"

Bryce slumped. The implication of Edison's theory was

devastating.  
"Various mutations... like fingerprints... enhanced abilities can

manifest in a number of ways. Super strength, enhanced hearing...

talking to animals... possession isn't out of the realm of possibility... "

Bryce felt like crying, but refrained.  
He looked at Jenny. The girl wiped a tear from her eye.

Alter-liberation seemed so close, and it was hard to accept that it

might not be happening after all.  
Bryce squeezed her hand tenderly.

"Aw! Sad Jenny! Parrot sad too!" the bird said, nuzzling her har

with his beak.

"Confirmation!" Edison stated. He looked back, and the others

followed suit.  
After a few moments of grueling silence, Edison narrowed his

eyes.

"Well?!" he demanded.

Continued silence.

"You know what's at stake here don't you?!" Edison queried.

"Kyle if you can't do it for yourself, then do it for Christina," Theora  
begged.

"Oh, that's funny! Do it for Christina! I can't do it for Christina  
because she knows!"

"What... what's that mean?" Bryce asked.

Kyle turned away. This "breakup" hurt and bad. Half of him felt  
guilty for what he was doing, and half of him didn't.

Kyle lowered his eyes.

"You're right. That's not Simon Peller... and to make it even more  
mysterious, Christina knows it's not Simon Peller... if I had to take  
a guess I'd say that assassination-attempt was staged... "  
Kyle laughed.  
"And really well! I almost believed it myself!"  
Now he was laughing so hard, tears spilled from his eyes.  
"Sorry, sorry! The possession theory... wait a minute... smirk... I

don't think that's it... HA! I'm willing to bet on a mutant with a power

to shapeshift."  
"Alter!" Bryce snapped. "Oh... oh shit! _This is catastrophic_!"  
"My... my God," Theora shook her head, turned back to the video,

scrutinizing it carefully.

"I like being a mutant," Kyle insisted."It's scarier."  
He pointed to the screen as the video of the press conference

played silently.  
"Pretty impressive likeness, huh?" Kyle asked.  
Theora nodded slowly. "Remarkable," she whispered.  
Kyle shrugged. "I'm guessing it's a female... there's a 'gentleness'

about them I don't detect in us he-men."  
"This... this is a disaster!" Murray said. "What about Simon

Peller!? Where is he, then?!"

Kyle lit up a cigarette.  
"That I don't know... and I care even less."  
"Kyle-" Edison started.  
"No, really! If Christina and her new friend drowned that man in the

river I don't care!"

Edison was stumped.  
"Why... why would she even hook up with people like that?"  
"Well, we need to find out!" Theora said.

There was a rapid knock at the door, and Bryce let in Reg and

Dom.

"Did you hear? Of all things! Simon Peller came to the fringes and

tried to hand out free money!" Dom raved.  
Reg shrugged. "Scum-sucking bastard! But no worries, he was

rightly driven out... funny, though; there was a young girl with him...

from the description it sounded like Christina, very odd, indeed."  
Reg coughed nervously "Ah, sorry to come down here like this,

old son... but... ah... well Dom... "  
Reg nudged her kindly.

There were tears in her eyes.  
"I... was wondering if you could help me... help me find... my

daughter...

Reg got her a seat and she sat down, crying now.  
"I gave her up for adoption. I just wasn't ready to be a mum... but...

but... the difficult part is... I underwent these tests... she's one of

them I guess... but this whole thing with Christina... it made me... it

reminded me... I want to find my child... "  
"What's her name?" Theora asked.  
"I called her Diana... tho it could have been changed... "  
"Theora nodded, hugged her friend.

"If you don't mind, I'll see what I can do here," Theora said.

Edison nodded, and the three went off. He turned back to the

screen.

"I don't know what to do! Let them go on in this charade?"  
He shook his head.  
"Could Christina actually resort to murder?" he whispered.

"She can't be a killer, she's too nice! I suggest an undercover

job! Find out what's going on!" Bryce turned to Kyle. "Go look for him... in a place he might

be if they took him as hostage. 'Feel' him out."

Bryce punched some information into his computer.  
"I can track Christina, from the last time I saw her... up until now... I

hope... "  
"Awright I can go undercover... but I'm scared I don't wanna go

alone!" Kyle mocked.  
"You shouldn't go alone, no idea what we are dealing with. Hm...

I'm too well-known, Theora too. We need Bryce, Jenny and Max to do the

computer work... "

Edison looked up at his friend.

"Oh, God!" Murray moaned.  
Kyle laughed at that.


	14. Chapter 14

**ON THE TRAIL**  
-bryce's lab-  
"Silly Bryce Lynch! Bryce Lynch so silly! Haaa!"

Bryce was taping electrodes to his head, and looked over at

the parrot that was perched firmly on Jenny's shoulder.

watching with amusement, and making sure to say so.

"I never got him to talk! Not even 'Polly want a cracker!'!  
"Polly don't want no crackers, that why! HAA!"

Jenny had a special animal-communication power, and the

parrot was proof. His own parrot intelligence was rapidly

growing and his speech improved exponentially.

"So, what are you doing exactly?" Jenny asked.  
"Trying to figure out the second-power thing, is all! I'm

discouraged it should be there but I can't find it!"

"Hm!" Jenny shrugged. "Well it seems to me... some get

one or some get two... based on the existence of this

chromosome... "

Jenny opened her notebook and pointed it out. "See?"  
Bryce frowned. "Well I got it... that second chromosome...

yet no second power."  
Max came on the computer screen. He looked glum.  
"I can't get into Simon Peller's office or his condo.

'Something' is blocking me! One guess on who that

'something' is!"

Bryce thought... yeh it was some kind of conspiracy, and

Christina was involved. But the how and why was still a big

unknown.

"It's a big deal when she can't even trust me, Bryce!" Max

pouted "I was the first she ever could trust!"  
"I know."  
"She smokes now! I think she drinks too. I know she's

growing up, but it's in all the wrong ways!"  
"Can you blame her? I mean, really?" Bryce asked. "Look at

what she's been through!"

Jenny shook her head. "So unjustly abused! Her dad really

tried to kill her?!"

"Really!" Bryce answered.

"That still doesn't make it right, Bryce! She should have come to

me, to us, first... before kidnapping Simon!" Max told them.  
"We don't know what happened, let's not get

presumptuous... lets start at the beginning... back when I

met her in the parking garage... something happened

between then and the parade. We need to find out what that

was."

Max sulked again, flipped off the screen, and brought up the

footage of Christina and Kyle leaving the parking garage...

***  
It was one of the quickest shifts Dyana underwent. The call

from Kelly at Zik Zak could not be ignored.  
"Wah!" DP sighed; the shift was too fast, and it made her

dizzy. Not to mention public pressure was becoming

intense, as more questions came from a wary and hopeful

public.  
Though, in truth, public perception leaned towards the wary.

Try as she might, Dyana the shapeshifter was not Simon

Peller, and "his" erratic behavior was not lost on Edison

Carter as well as others.

"I've been trying all day to get hold of you, Mr. Peller. You're

a hard man to pin down. Rather busy on your... new

strategies, I assume?"  
"It's a never-ending job!" DP answered, wiping the sweat

from his forehead.  
"In that case, I suggest you find your second wind, and fast.

Your presence is required in New Tokyo in 12 hours.

"There are a few issues that need to be settled."  
"Tuh! Twelve hours!"  
"I'm faxing you the tickets, now."  
"Ummm... yeh, ok... I mean yes! We need to have a

meeting."  
On the view screen, Kelly frowned. "Well, then... we look

forward to your company. It should be a fascinating

meeting."

DP disconnected.  
"How long can you stay like this?" Christina asked, as she

handed "him" a glass of water."  
"Longest I ever went was a month. It's just tiring. I literally

warp my body into a new form."  
"Yeh... " Christina pondered, wondering for the first time how

such "unnatural energy" might affect them in the long-run.  
"Go with me!" DP begged "yeh you can be my backup...

you're a lot better at this than me... not to mention you have

that 'in' "  
"What about that guy Ronald, he may want to go?"  
"Not seen him. Said he was off for a early breakfast. Maybe

he found a girl."  
"I assume we won't be telling my 'in' about this... crap!"  
Christina lit up a smoke and DP held out a hand.  
"You feel like the noose is getting tighter? Sooner or later

someone will figure it out!" she shook her head "Max is

trying to get in here... he can't, no worries... but they will

catch on to the fact that... someone... is lying to them!"  
"Hmmm!" went DP, getting up and going to the bar and

pouring them drinks.  
"What you wanna do?" DP asked, handing her a glass of

wine.  
"Talk to him! Simon. Wait, listen... just this last time... I'm

hoping that he can see the truth... about what a bad idea this

is... his ideas!"  
DP shrugged. "Well, can't hurt... I guess... then we go to

New Tokyo... and we can get through that... ok I'm getting my

groove back. We go to New Tokyo and lie one more time."  
DP smiled a bright toothy grin, raised the wine glass.

"After all, what is one more lie?"

"Kids! Whatup kids!?"  
It was Alex who met them at the door to Simon Peller's

condo. He had on a long white coat, like what a scientist

might wear. Even more, a stethoscope was draped around

his neck, and he had a scalpel in one hand.  
"What are you doing?!" DP chided "not dropping the ball on

the hate-monger are you?!"  
"Oh, he is safe and cozy! I'm just about ready to dissect

him! Wanna watch?!"  
"Ew... " Christina said. "Serious?"  
"I'm a scientist! You didn't know?"  
"I don't even know your power!"

Alex stepped back, danced through the main room.  
"So... what is it?" Christina queried.  
"I never mutate and tell, miss electro. Hey speaking of

mutations, how much power you got anyway? Could you

power the city?"  
"No!" she grumbled. At one time she felt a closeness to all

alters, but ones like Eryn, Frankie and now Alex and she was

just more repulsed.

"What about recharging my smartphone. Could you do

that?" Alex laughed.  
"Stay dafuq away from me you weirdo!"  
"Whutevah! So you wanna see the bigot? Well come on

then. I think he's available!"

Alex led them to the bedroom. Simon Peller was sitting on

the edge of the bed, his feet and legs tied up but his hands

free and no gag. A tray with the remains of lunch was in front

of him.  
"Babysitting is hard work. We don't want him to make too

much of a mess." Alex said.

Simon looked at the boy harshly. "Shove it, pinhead!"

"I need to talk to you," Christina implored.  
Simon looked at Alex. "You can kindly remove this garbage.

I'm done!"

Alex then tied him back up, and positioned him on the bed.

Christina slowly came over.

"One chance... and listen good... again... I did not plan this,

but I have every right to prevent people like you from hurting

me... or Dyana... or anyone!"  
He was silent, just stared at her. Christina lit up a cigarette.  
"I want to appeal to your better nature... if you have one... "

Simon laughed. "My better nature! You're one, to talk! What

about that Eryn? She seems to enjoy the migraines she

inflicts on me. Your friend, Dyana doesn't seem to mind

impersonating me and violating all I stand for... and you...

you sit back and 'watch'. You allow all of this. You, the good

little girl so undeserving of any 'abuse' you claim to suffer!

You enjoy this! You said so, yourself!"  
He shifted on the bed, turned away.  
"I've got no reason to trust you or your kind."  
"Mr. Peller-" she began, but realized it was useless.

"Let's just go," DP said. "I don't wanna be late. I'm hoping

we can see the Imperial Palace, its really beautiful."  
"Fine!" Christina said. "Alex keep him alive until we get back at least."  
"Awww," Alex moaned "I really wanna dissect him!"  
"Alex you really give Alters a bad name!"


	15. Chapter 15

**ON THE TRAIL**  
-bryce's lab-  
"Silly Bryce Lynch! Bryce Lynch so silly! Haaa!"

Bryce was taping electrodes to his head, and looked over at

the parrot that was perched firmly on Jenny's shoulder.

watching with amusement, and making sure to say so.

"I never got him to talk! Not even 'Polly want a cracker!'!  
"Polly don't want no crackers, that why! HAA!"

Jenny had a special animal-communication power, and the

parrot was proof. His own parrot intelligence was rapidly

growing and his speech improved exponentially.

"So, what are you doing exactly?" Jenny asked.  
"Trying to figure out the second-power thing, is all! I'm

discouraged it should be there but I can't find it!"

"Hm!" Jenny shrugged. "Well it seems to me... some get

one or some get two... based on the existence of this

chromosome... "

Jenny opened her notebook and pointed it out. "See?"  
Bryce frowned. "Well I got it... that second chromosome...

yet no second power."  
Max came on the computer screen. He looked glum.  
"I can't get into Simon Peller's office or his condo.

'Something' is blocking me! One guess on who that

'something' is!"

Bryce thought... yeh it was some kind of conspiracy, and

Christina was involved. But the how and why was still a big

unknown.

"It's a big deal when she can't even trust me, Bryce!" Max

pouted "I was the first she ever could trust!"  
"I know."  
"She smokes now! I think she drinks too. I know she's

growing up, but it's in all the wrong ways!"  
"Can you blame her? I mean, really?" Bryce asked. "Look at

what she's been through!"

Jenny shook her head. "So unjustly abused! Her dad really

tried to kill her?!"

"Really!" Bryce answered.

"That still doesn't make it right, Bryce! She should have come to

me, to us, first... before kidnapping Simon!" Max told them.  
"We don't know what happened, let's not get

presumptuous... lets start at the beginning... back when I

met her in the parking garage... something happened

between then and the parade. We need to find out what that

was."

Max sulked again, flipped off the screen, and brought up the

footage of Christina and Kyle leaving the parking garage...

***  
It was one of the quickest shifts Dyana underwent. The call

from Kelly at Zik Zak could not be ignored.  
"Wah!" DP sighed; the shift was too fast, and it made her

dizzy. Not to mention public pressure was becoming

intense, as more questions came from a wary and hopeful

public.  
Though, in truth, public perception leaned towards the wary.

Try as she might, Dyana the shapeshifter was not Simon

Peller, and "his" erratic behavior was not lost on Edison

Carter as well as others.

"I've been trying all day to get hold of you, Mr. Peller. You're

a hard man to pin down. Rather busy on your... new

strategies, I assume?"  
"It's a never-ending job!" DP answered, wiping the sweat

from his forehead.  
"In that case, I suggest you find your second wind, and fast.

Your presence is required in New Tokyo in 12 hours.

"There are a few issues that need to be settled."  
"Tuh! Twelve hours!"  
"I'm faxing you the tickets, now."  
"Ummm... yeh, ok... I mean yes! We need to have a

meeting."  
On the view screen, Kelly frowned. "Well, then... we look

forward to your company. It should be a fascinating

meeting."

DP disconnected.  
"How long can you stay like this?" Christina asked, as she

handed "him" a glass of water."  
"Longest I ever went was a month. It's just tiring. I literally

warp my body into a new form."  
"Yeh... " Christina pondered, wondering for the first time how

such "unnatural energy" might affect them in the long-run.  
"Go with me!" DP begged "yeh you can be my backup...

you're a lot better at this than me... not to mention you have

that 'in' "  
"What about that guy Ronald, he may want to go?"  
"Not seen him. Said he was off for a early breakfast. Maybe

he found a girl."  
"I assume we won't be telling my 'in' about this... crap!"  
Christina lit up a smoke and DP held out a hand.  
"You feel like the noose is getting tighter? Sooner or later

someone will figure it out!" she shook her head "Max is

trying to get in here... he can't, no worries... but they will

catch on to the fact that... someone... is lying to them!"  
"Hmmm!" went DP, getting up and going to the bar and

pouring them drinks.  
"What you wanna do?" DP asked, handing her a glass of

wine.  
"Talk to him! Simon. Wait, listen... just this last time... I'm

hoping that he can see the truth... about what a bad idea this

is... his ideas!"  
DP shrugged. "Well, can't hurt... I guess... then we go to

New Tokyo... and we can get through that... ok I'm getting my

groove back. We go to New Tokyo and lie one more time."  
DP smiled a bright toothy grin, raised the wine glass.

"After all, what is one more lie?"

"Kids! Whatup kids!?"  
It was Alex who met them at the door to Simon Peller's

condo. He had on a long white coat, like what a scientist

might wear. Even more, a stethoscope was draped around

his neck, and he had a scalpel in one hand.  
"What are you doing?!" DP chided "not dropping the ball on

the hate-monger are you?!"  
"Oh, he is safe and cozy! I'm just about ready to dissect

him! Wanna watch?!"  
"Ew... " Christina said. "Serious?"  
"I'm a scientist! You didn't know?"  
"I don't even know your power!"

Alex stepped back, danced through the main room.  
"So... what is it?" Christina queried.  
"I never mutate and tell, miss electro. Hey speaking of

mutations, how much power you got anyway? Could you

power the city?"  
"No!" she grumbled. At one time she felt a closeness to all

alters, but ones like Eryn, Frankie and now Alex and she was

just more repulsed.

"What about recharging my smartphone. Could you do

that?" Alex laughed.  
"Stay dafuq away from me you weirdo!"  
"Whutevah! So you wanna see the bigot? Well come on

then. I think he's available!"

Alex led them to the bedroom. Simon Peller was sitting on

the edge of the bed, his feet and legs tied up but his hands

free and no gag. A tray with the remains of lunch was in front

of him.  
"Babysitting is hard work. We don't want him to make too

much of a mess." Alex said.

Simon looked at the boy harshly. "Shove it, pinhead!"

"I need to talk to you," Christina implored.  
Simon looked at Alex. "You can kindly remove this garbage.

I'm done!"

Alex then tied him back up, and positioned him on the bed.

Christina slowly came over.

"One chance... and listen good... again... I did not plan this,

but I have every right to prevent people like you from hurting

me... or Dyana... or anyone!"  
He was silent, just stared at her. Christina lit up a cigarette.  
"I want to appeal to your better nature... if you have one... "

Simon laughed. "My better nature! You're one, to talk! What

about that Eryn? She seems to enjoy the migraines she

inflicts on me. Your friend, Dyana doesn't seem to mind

impersonating me and violating all I stand for... and you...

you sit back and 'watch'. You allow all of this. You, the good

little girl so undeserving of any 'abuse' you claim to suffer!

You enjoy this! You said so, yourself!"  
He shifted on the bed, turned away.  
"I've got no reason to trust you or your kind."  
"Mr. Peller-" she began, but realized it was useless.

"Let's just go," DP said. "I don't wanna be late. I'm hoping

we can see the Imperial Palace, its really beautiful."  
"Fine!" Christina said. "Alex keep him alive until we get back at least."  
"Awww," Alex moaned "I really wanna dissect him!"  
"Alex you really give Alters a bad name!"


	16. Chapter 16

ZIK ZAK  
"Where is our money, Simon Peller!?"

On arrival to New Tokyo, DP and Christina were treated as

royalty. A limo was sent to pick them up, and they were

house in a private hacienda just for Peller and his

representative, right outside the city; it was a traditional

Japanese home dressed in elegant Asian design.  
They were treated to one of the finest late afternoon afternoon meals either

had ever consumed. And after about an hour's rest at their

quarters, they were called before the Zik Zak

boardmembers.  
It was here the tone changed from genuine benevolence to

a carefully restrained hostility.  
Zik Zak was not happy with Simon Peller.

Mr. Chen straightened his glasses. "Ah, you can see our

dillema, Mr. Peller. We donated a substantial amount of

credits towards the advancement, study and regulation of

this... ah... "  
He looked at his notes.  
"New breed of human specimen."  
He frowned. "We believed in the cause, Mr. Peller, and we

still do... in fact we have grave concerns why you brought her

here... she is a significant threat... not that we aren't

prepared to deal with this, and the armed guards in and

outside the boardroom may indicate this... but you of all

people, have no reason to trust her or her kind."

The other boardmembers stared him down, waiting eagerly

for his response.

"Saved my life!"

DP shrugged.  
"I don't know... see I don't know, now! Oh, gosh I was cruel

to her at one time... she was just this thing to me! Buuut...

she saved my live. Maybe she's more human than I think she

is!"  
"Maybe?!" Kelly queried.  
The other boardmembers glanced at eachother silently.

Ped Xing stood up, reiterated his question, this time louder

and more angry.  
"Our money, Simon Peller! Where is it!?"

Christina and DP had discussed many theories on the plane

ride over, and luckily, this was one of the theories.  
"They were diverted!"

"Diverted... ?"  
"I had them paid directly to Ben Cheviot!"  
DP frowned.  
"He was very sorry to discover his son was a... "  
DP turned to Christina. "What was it you called yourself?"  
"Alter!" she sighed.  
"Thought I'd give the old boy the chance to... ah... make

amends... I had the funds paid directly to him."  
DP fumbled through "his" briefcase, pulled out some papers

and accidentally knocking the briefcase to the floor. Kelly got

up fast, walked over and snatched the papers from him.  
"A little rude!" DP said as Kelly handed the papers to Ped

Xing.

The head of Zik Zak examined the financial records

room was so silent, you could hear a pin drop. A

butler came in, poured tea for them all, stopped near DP

momentarily, and left.

"Satisfactory," Ped Xing drolled "your financial institutions

are still slightly outdated," Xing said, his voice resonating

smugness "we must not have gotten the information on our

systems."

"It is... a bit dated!" DP agreed. Mr. Chen was fast taking

notes. "We must arrange for a meeting with Mr. Cheviot.

What about next Friday, Mr. Chairman?"

Ped Xing was staring at DP. He then got up slowly, walked

over and handed back the papers.  
"I'll call the limo to take you back to your quarters."

The partners in crime hurried to get out of the hostile

environment. On their way out, they passed by the butler,

who was hastily shoving something in his vest pocket.

"Dinner is being delivered! You two have a fine evening!"  
The voice behind them was loud and starting to the two

Alters, and made them jump.  
"Ah! Well, golly, thanks!" DP said to Mr. Chen.  
Mr. Chen glared at him oddly, shook his head, walked off,

saying to his associate, "We must have that butler checked

out. I know Zlin likes to plant spies!"

"Zlin?" DP wondered.  
"Rival hearless corporation."  
"Oh."

DP turned to Christina, and saw her eyes filled with tears.  
"You did great in there!" "He" encouraged.  
She tried to smile, tried to nod, but made a choking sound

and turned away.  
"Let's go, bud. I really need that dinner... I think we'll both

feel better after dinner... and a good stiff drink!"

***  
THE MICHEL BAY STUFF  
~at the Japanese hacienda~  
"I feel bettah!" Dyana sighed. She began to pour herself a

third glass of wine.  
"Wait! After we get home... take care of the Simon Peller

issue... then lets drink ourselves into a stupor!"  
"Ok," Dyana turned to her "I thought your verbal smackdown

of Peller was great... perfect... he may hate your guts but me

and my pals thought you were amazing... well some of still

think so... and Brain does!"  
"Brain is cute!" Christina said. Dyana laughed. "Don't get me

wrong... I was in over my head. In a lot of ways."  
"Not your fault... we didn't give you much of a choice."  
Dyana pressed her fingers to her head.  
"ok... What in the off chance... and I use off-chance

STRONGLY... this doesn't work?"

"Honestly... I guess... maybe if we can get a good lawyer we

can be out of prison in about 10,000 years!"  
"9,000 for good behavior?"  
"Yeh... give or take 1,000 for time served!"  
"It was fun while it lasted!"

"Don't stress you're not the first to make me their bitch.  
Dyana laughed and Christina smiled.  
"They always say, a good friend will visit you in prison, and

best friend will be sitting next to you in prison and saying

"Damn that was fun!"  
"That... just makes me need another drink!"  
"This one's on me!" Dyana said. Then she followed her to

the kitchen.  
"What's taking so long?!"

Christina was frozen in place, looking under the sink.  
"Good god!" Dyana realized.

There was a big square shaped object under the sink, with a

bunch of multi-colored wires sticking out of it. In the center of it was a digital timer, displaying 40 seconds and counting backwards.  
"It's a... " Dyana tried to speak, but she felt stupid all of a sudden.  
"Go!" Christina whispered.  
"Bomb!" Dyana realized.  
"Change and go!" Christina yelled.

Less than 40 seconds later, the hacienda erupted with a loud boom and a fiery explosion!


	17. Chapter 17

**ANOTHER BRIEF BUT NECESSARY INTERLUDE**  
"Ok, lets try that again!"  
He sat Ronald down in the chair, slapped metal cuffs on his

wrists, and backed off.  
He moved over to the control panel as the woman sidled up

beside him.  
"Probably wont work. He's nothing but a stupid human, his

electrical field dont mean shit!"  
She waved her arms over the heavily modified human

gyroscope, where the knocked-out Ronald sat in the middle

and strapped down by his hands and feet.  
"It's called scientific progress! I know who needs to make

this thing work! Think I'm a dummy?!"  
He skipped over to the gyroscope. Ronald was still

unconscious.  
Then he skipped over to the two metal cages. The surviving

poodle sat in the right cage, and in

the left was a new animal; a monkey stolen from the zoo.  
"EEEEK!" the monkey cried out, as he handed it a banana.  
"Sorry pal! It's probably gonna kill you and it may be painful...

heh! Painful! Hahahaha!"  
This time he danced away from the cages and went back to

his control board. He flipped a few switches and sat down

swaying back and forth in the chair.  
"Get serious! Swear, is this about scientific progress, or cheap thrills?"  
"Both!"

"Wake up, asshole!" She slapped Ronald in the face, then stepped away from the gyroscope.  
"Fun times!" he giggled. He yelled out, "GO!"

The machine was turned on. In the cage with the poodle, the

canine began barking loudly, whined a little, lay down and

rolled over. Her little body bounced in the vibrating cage.  
In the next cage, the monkey screamed.

Sttrapped into the gyroscope tightly, Ronald woke up, as an electrical current coursed through his body.  
"AAAAAYYYIIIIEEEE!"  
His hands grapped at the metal coated straps holding him in place, shaking them madly.  
"OHGODLETMEOUTLETMEOUTLETMEOOOOOOOOOO

OOOOOOUT!  
The outer rings of the gyroscope swirled around fast, as the center ring remained in place, as the electrical current spread out over the gyroscope, and through cables attatched to the cages.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!" the monkey screamed, before falling over, dead.

"Took longer than I expected!" he sighed.  
"GAAAAAAAAAH!" Ronald cried out, then slumped over, dead.  
"Getting harder to find a place to bury them!" she noted.  
He shut down the machine. The poodle whined.

He got himself a hacksaw. "I'll take care of Ronald. You rewire the gyroscope and clean up the cages. Alright, no more games! Simon Peller's time is done... but the good part is we do have enough power... AHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAA!"


	18. Chapter 18

**"A BIG SURPRISE"**  
"Dominique, what do you think?"  
At control, Dom sat anxiously beside her supportive friend, as

special software was used on an old photos of a tiny baby,

Dom's baby, and they were able to find out what she looked like

now, at 16 years old.

She certainly was a lovely young girl with dark brown haIr, brown

eyes, slim face and pointed chin.

"She's... beautiful," Dom whispered, wiping away a tear.

Bryce called in and Theora answered.  
She frowned. He looked so sad.  
"What'd you find out?"  
"Peller... I think anyway... "  
He looked away, his face tight.  
"I didn't want it to be true Theora! But... it is!"  
"Bryce, I'm calling Edison, and the others. Hang tight, we'll be

there soon."  
Theora turned to Dom.  
"Go get Reg. We could use more help. I'll get copies of the picture made.

Meet me at Bryce's lab."

***  
Bryce pointed to the screen. Edison, Theora, Dom, Reg, and

Kyle had joined Bryce and Jenny in the lab. They watched as a

securicam revealed a parked limo, with Simon Peller barreling

out the back door, only to be grabbed by a two girls and two

guys, tied up, and shoved back inside. Then saw as Christina

exited the back seat and slammed the door, joining her new

partners in the front seat.  
"Mutants? All of them?"

"Alters!" Bryce hissed at Edison.  
He turned back to the screen. "Ok, some of us are Alters, and

others are just damn dirty mutants!"

"Speed it up Bryce. We need to know what they did to him."

Bryce shrugged, and hit fast-forward, bringing them to the back

entrance to Peller's condominium.  
"Freeze that! Let's Get a picture of those kids! See if we can

identify them," Edison said.

"Bad Alter-children! Not disciplined properly! Giving Alter's a

baaaad name!" squawked the parrot.

Dom leaned in close.  
"Theora... that girl... that one with Christina!"  
Theora zoomed in.  
"Oh! Why... that's... "  
"Diana!" Dom realized.  
"Blimey! Well imagine that, love! Your daughter kidnapped

Simon Peller... give that girl an award!"

Dom looked concerned but satisfied. "What can I say? She's

like her mother, after all. Bucking the system... I'm almost proud...

"  
She sat back nibbling on the cigarette holder nervously.

"This won't work!" Bryce yelled, slamming his fists on the

keyboard.  
"Ah! He's right!" Murray realized. "If this is a team of m... Alters...

then involving those with no special abilities is a bad idea!"  
The parrot landed on Jenny's should. "Bad Alters get sent to  
bed with no dinner!"

"Except for our side," Edison said. "Jenny, what kind of animals

can you 'speak' to?"

"Well Bryce and I were going to go to the zoo and conduct

some experiments, but then we found out it was closed because

one of the monkeys disappeared."

"Reg, can you bring Fang up here?

Reg looked at Dom for approval. She nodded and off he went.

"He doesn't have teeth, so biting is out of the question." Dom

said.

Bryce slumped down, as they continued watching the video.  
"He's still there. I watched it all... up to 20 minutes ago... if you

want to find Simon Peller you'll find him in his apartment."

He punched some keys, called up, Max.

"I'm busy Bryce I told you that!"  
"Max... try to get in one more time!"  
"I told you I can't... oh!"  
He looked angry but flashed off, and came back 10 minutes  
later.  
"Best firewall I ever encountered! It's a no-go, Bryce!"

He looked to his left.

"Gotta run!"

Bryce growled. "He's been in and out all day! I guess he's

having a hard time with what Christina's doing."

"Understandable... But I get the feeling that Christina was just

caught up in this... these other kids took Simon and she just

happened to be there... " Edison frowned. "That's what it looks

like anyway... "

Edison turned to Kyle and Murray. "Ready for that undercover  
work?"

"No," Murray said.  
"Not really," Kyle agreed.

Edison just stared. Both men, sighed, groaned, and headed off.

***  
"She'll go to prison, maybe with a good lawyer she can be out in

about 20,000 years. Less for time served I guess?"  
In a black van in the parking lot, Murray sat in the drivers seat and

looked over at Kyle.  
"If she and her new friends didn't kill him."

"Don't care? Did I mention that?"  
"Can't think what would be worse myself... whether he lives or  
dies... "

Kyle turned to Murray.  
"I'm sorry."  
"What?"  
"I never apologized. Christina asked me to, and I lied to her.  
But... sorry I gave you a beatdown."

"Superficial wounds. I was out of the hospital in a day... but if I

can say something... you need to be as honest with her as she is  
to you... come on, Kyle! You're the son of a great man! Make him  
proud!"

"It's time!" Kyle interjected. "Those guys headed up to Peller's  
place. Back asap!"  
"Be careful! Don't get to close! Want my gun?"

"Ha! Murray's got a gun. Well I don't blame you! My mental range ain't

that great. It's why I stay alone most of the time. All those  
feelings can be... a big headache."

***

"Oh, so happy! Oh, so very happy! My what a pretty day it is!"  
Alex said, as he danced down the up escalator.

Frankie, Eryn, and Brain met him at the bottom.

"Suuup!"  
"I see you've been busy!" Eryn sneered, pointing at the bloody bag clutched in his hand.  
"My work is never done! The bastard's upstars. Think He has to pee... but he said that an hour ago! HAAAAAAAAAA"  
"Oh, great! Frankie you can clean that up!""Gotta run, bitches. I'm almost done! Expect a call in 2 hours! I'll be ready then." and he danced off.

"Coming man?" Frankie asked.

"When is little miss goody goody coming back.

"Soon! That's why we have to hurry."

Frankie and Eryn went upstairs.

Brain watched them go. He was feeling stiff in his groan, thinking what a great lay Christina would be...

"Isn't it time for lunch, mutant?" Simon called out "thought that's

what you went to get!"  
He writhed on his bed, only managing to swing his feet off.

"Damn!" he yelled, now hanging in a precarious position and any

slight movement would send him into a face-plant on the

linoleum floor.  
He lay there, pondering which way to turn, or even if he should.

Neither a bloody nose or getting knocked out appealed to him.

Just when he decided on a maneuver, Eryn rushed over to him

and pushed him back on the bed.  
"I slipped don't you DARE torture me again!"  
"Ok." She smiled, turned and walked away.  
He was puzzled by that.  
He was even more puzzled as Frankie came in, stood over him,

frowning.  
"What?!" Peller demanded. "Whatever you're gonna do just do  
it!"

"Ok," Frankie said softly, and he, too, walked away.  
"Don't you toy with me, you damn dirty mutants!" he growled.

"I want to tell him!"  
"Later!"  
"No my reputation is on the line!"

The two came back, pulled up velvet lined chairs and sat down.

Both looked at each other nervously. Slowly, Eryn got up, and

began to untie Peller.

"Relax! I won't hurt you, I promise."

Frankie commenced to load his 9mm as Eryn got Peller in a

sitting position and untied his feet.

"On your honor, Mr. Peller," Eryn begged.

"See, I never miss!" Frankie said as he cocked the hammer.  
He shrugged. "I nailed her on purpose!"

Simon Peller wrenched away from the girl angrily, but again, no

headache.

He narrowed his eyes, suspiciously, looking at both.

"What kind of trick is this?!"

Eryn sat down. "No tricks, I swear. No... " she covered her mouth

with her eyes, and sobbed.

"Not a lot of time, darlin'" Frankie said, gently. After a few

moments, Frankie handed Peller the gun, and Eryn cringed,

pulled her legs to her chest. "Please!" she begged.

"On your honor, Mr. Simon Peller?" Frankie asked.

He held up the gun, pointing it at Eryn and Frankie.

"Just listen to what he have to say... then do as you want...

we did ask for it!" Frankie said.

Peller slipped a finger around the trigger.  
Still no headaches, but he could see that Eryn was praying

silently.

He lowered the gun slowly, keeping a firm grip on the handle.  
"Now what can I possibly do for you, mutants?!"

"Just listen... you have the gun now, you could end our lives in a

second and go free... but after you hear us out... you may not

want to... what we have to tell you... is that important."

Peller frowned.

"Talk!" he demanded.


	19. Chapter 19

**THE GAME IS AFOOT!**  
Kyle and Murray returned to Network 23 after about 4 hours of a

stakeout. Edison let them into the lab.  
"We're keeping this under the radar... there was an assassination

attempt in New Tokyo... on Simon... I doubt this one was

staged."

"Christina!"  
"She's ok, they both are... well, "Simon" seems to have

vanished. Christina's returning on a flight in an hour and Theora

Dom and Reg went to wait for her."  
Kyle sat down, relieved.  
"Ok, what happened out there?"

"Give me a minute."  
"She's really ok... in some hot water, but ok."  
"Ok... bring up those pictures... "

Kyle sat in front of the computer.  
"Christina... " he sulked a little, pointed. "That's Dom's kid, right?"  
"Diana. Bryce get up Nap time is over!" Edison called to the boy.

Think that kid is called Frankie... the blankie. Guy on the right I

don't know." He frowned, was that guy the reason for her mixed

emotions?

"Hot chick! Don't know her name!" he pointed to Eryn. "You know Simon

looks really good like that! All bound up and

gagged. It's a good look for him!"

Edison couldn't help but smile.  
"Can't fool me! You all want to leave him like that!"  
"Well, we can't!" Edison said, kind of disgusted "this is going to

cause too many problems in the long run."

Bryce shuffled over, and sat in a chair, yawning.  
"That guy, what about him?" Edison pointed to Alex.  
"You want the truth?"  
"It's what I do!"

"He... reminds me of my brother... " Kyle frowned. "My _crazy_

brother, in case you forgot... don't say I didn't warn you!"

After a respectful silence, Murray spoke up. "Which one is the

shapeshifter? The fake Simon."

"It's Diana," Bryce said. "She never got into the limo, but she got

out of the limo... she could have been Ronald, his manager... a

cop, I don't know."

"Incredible... " Edison sighed.

When he first met the lonely and frightened Christina, both of  
them were convinced she was the only one, then Kyle came  
along, and the secret stories from far-away times, about  
genetically altered children, proved to be astonishly true.  
Now he felt less angry at her recent actions. After all this time, to  
find kids just like herself... wanting to be with them was a rational  
response.

"All Alters, then" Murray asked.  
"Every one... I can't detect what, but there's this 'energy' we

posses... far above the norm... we may not live long." Kyle

looked at Edison, smiled "Think that would make Simon happy?"

"Dammit!" Edison rested his chin in his hand. "Something tells

me they all understand how much trouble they'd be in.

Something also tells me they won't want to talk about it!"

Jenny returned with Fang. "I taught him five new tricks, and I

taught him how to accept the commands from Reg And Dom!

Oh, I think they will be most happy!"

Bryce just stared, a grin slowly spreading across his face.  
"You make me... happy... "

Edison smiled. "It's beginning to look like love!" he sang.  
"We need to get back to work!" Bryce said, his face turning beet

red.  
"Alright," Edison pulled up a chair. "What next?"

Bryce punched some keys.  
"Ok, the flight Christina is on will arrive at the airport in 45

minutes."  
He turned to Edison.  
"The Peller-impersonator is not with her but a spider monkey is!"  
He looked back at the screen.  
"Say's she has documentation for it and everything! Grrr!

Wanton misuse of powers if there ever was!"

He threw up his hands. "Curiouser and curiouser! And I'm

confused! I don't want Peller back on his warpath but... but I

don't know what we should do!"  
"One thing at a time, Bryce. First we talk to her. Get her side of

the story. Kyle is Peller ok?"  
"Alive and well!" he grumbled.  
He thought.  
"In fact a little too well... he seemed... relieved... satisfied... "

Edison nodded slowly. "Whatever is going on... we need to

hurry!"

~~An hour later~~  
"Christina and Dyana barely managed to avoid Theora at the

airport, thanks in no small part to "a spider monkey that threw a

tantrum and scared everyone at the TSA checkpoint", and after

another shift to a poodle, both managed to escape out the back.

"I'm just not ready to face them yet... it's coming, and too fast!

Dyana we are in over our heads and starting to drown."  
"I know... and I'm sorry... Christina, I'm really sorry we got you

wrapped up in this! We should have just killed him and left you

out of it!"  
Christina turned to her.  
"How would either choice have made a difference?"  
"Huh?"  
"We never had a choice! Not in how we were made, or what

happened after... there was never a choice."  
She frowned.  
"It was fate."  
Dyana huffed, shifted her feet. "Ok, alright! I'm going to check

on Peller and Evil-Eryn! We'll... work something out."

"I'm gonna try and talk to Max. Maybe he'll listen to my side of

the story. Don't worry, you and me, buds forever! We'll try and

make our jail cell a fun place to be!"  
Dyana smiled, hugged her "sister" and headed off.

***  
"Max?"  
Christina went to a bus stop and used the vidi-phone from there.  
"I wanna talk to you."  
She waited.  
"I don't have a lot of time."

He flipped onto the screen, stared for a few seconds, tried to

smile.  
"All grown up. It's only been a year but it feels like 100. What

happened to my fantasy-girl?"  
"Growing... pain... What else can I say?"  
"You can start by telling me why you are hanging out with thugs

and kidnappers! Christina you have Kyle, and compared to your

new friends he looks like a choir boy! And Bryce? What, that's

not good enough for you?"  
"I was kidnapped too!" she insisted. "Peller was taking me to

prison! They got the jump on HIM! I just happened to be there!

It's the truth! I told Peller as much but of course he didn't believe

me! Why would he?!"  
She grimaced.  
"I had to make a quick decision... I made the best choice I

could... but either way, the end result is the same. Damned either

way, Max!"  
She turned away.  
"So, don't even go there! Don't ever assume I had a

choice! I never did... I'm just fate's little bitch is all... "  
Max frowned. "Well, as long as you put it that way... Christina I

have something for you... something really neat! "  
She glared at him. "Are you stalling me? Forget it, I'm going!"  
"No... ok, yes, I'm stalling you! But it's not just that... Christina I

have to show you something _highly important_!"

"Have... have Edison come by Peller's apartment in an hour... I just need one hour,

Max."  
"It's important I'm not kidding!"  
Max turned to the left.  
"Come over here, it's ok!"

Christina disconnected. and went off.

Jenny, with the parrot on her shoulder, exited the cab and paid  
the cab driver. She watched Christina go, and followed on foot,  
making sure to walk softly, and several steps behind.


	20. Chapter 20

**LUCK RUNS OUT**  
"Hey, where are you? Dyana?"

Christina unlocked the door to Peller's apartment and stepped

inside. The place was oddly quiet, and the door to his room was

shut.  
"Eryn? I have to tell you something."  
She went to get a glass of water then headed to the back room.  
"Hey!" she called out.  
"I'm back here!" DP called out. "Christina, I have it now, and it's

foolproof!"  
"What is?!"  
"My new plan of course. It's excellent... no more than that...

come in here, I'll show you."

Christina set the water on a corner table and entered the room.

DP sat on the edge of the bed, smiling at her.  
"I think you'll find my discovery enlightening."

Christina looked around the room.  
"But... where is... "

Where was Peller!?  
Then, to her horror, she saw Dyana slumped over in a corner,

sprawled out and eyes closed.

"Oh... my God!"

Now she saw it.  
Simon Peller got free!  
Now he was smiling more broadly, and pointed a gun at her.  
"SHIT!"

She turned and fled from the room, but Peller was right behind

her, grabbing her around the neck and pulled her to the floor,

pushing the barrel of the gun against her head.  
"Wait!" Christina begged.  
"Don't talk! Don't say a word, mutant!"

"You leave her alone!" A voice called out.

Christina looked up. It was Jenny.

"One move and she dies!" Peller yelled.  
The parrot launched off Jenny's shoulder, and dove for the gun,

knocking it from Peller's hand. Christina kicked out, scrambled

away, as Peller went for the gun.

Christina got to her knees, but was trembling so badly, she

almost collapsed again. Peller finally got the gun, and fired one

shot at the parrot, who flew out the window.

"Hey, we're late, sorry! Oh WHOAH!"  
Frankie stopped in the doorway, and Eryn sidled up beside him.

"Well shit, that's cool!" she beamed.  
Christina got to one foot, only to have Peller backhand her, and

sending her back to the floor.  
"Don't move!" Peller pointed the gun at a terrified Jenny. "Sit

down! No one move! You!" he pointed at Eryn "call the metros!"

"Hey! We can't, remember!?" Frankie said.

Christina grabbed her head suddenly, began to scream, but

then fainted.  
"That otta do it." Eryn said.

"Dang ya!" Frankie said, running to the back room, then returned.  
"Simon Peller you are still in danger! And I think she's waking

up!"

The shapeshifter, he realized.

"Alright. You take her... "  
Peller stood up, towering over the now-unconscious Christina,

then he moved to Jenny.  
"Please don't hurt me!" she begged, tears running down her

face.  
He grabbed her arm firmly, pointed at Eryn and Frankie, who

were tying up Christina.  
"Amnesty... just get me to a safe place. The rest, I can decide

what to do later."  
He looked at Frankie. "How can I ever repay you?" he drolled.  
"Just don't let them hurt us again!" Frankie said.  
"They made you do all this," Peller growled.  
"That Dyana... you have no idea what she's capable of, Mr.

Peller. She makes this girl look like a wimp."  
Eryn finished binding her up.  
"I don't... think that's what happened," Jenny interjected.  
"Shutup!" Peller ordered.  
"You didn't have to shoot my parrot!"  
"I SAID BE QUIET!"  
"Can we please go now?" Frankie asked.  
"Car's waiting," Eryn said, slinging the limp Christina over her

shoulder.


	21. Chapter 21

Edison stood at the top of the escalator, surrounded by Murray,

Bryce, Reg, Dom, Kyle and Fang.  
"What are we up against?"  
Kyle stroked his chin.  
"One person inside... it's the shapeshifter."  
Dom clutched Reg's hand, feeling hopeful and nervous.  
"What about Christina? And Jenny followed her!"

They backed off, went around a corner.  
"Let me... go in first... I mean if it's just Diana... "  
Bryce didn't wait for an answer, was already running for the door.

He put his hacking skills to work and got the door open.  
"Jenny?!"

All he saw was... what looked my Simon Peller, setting up a table

that was on its side. His hair was a mess and his clothes were

disheveled and about one size too small.  
"Holy mother of God... " Bryce sighed, at the uncanny

resemblance.  
"I am... so... sorry!" DP said, in a heavy voice, as tears fell down

"his" cheeks.

***  
"Incredible... simply... "  
Edison stared, but only for a few more seconds. The others

gathered in Peller's apartment, surrounding DP, as "he" morphed

back to "his" true self, the long-lost Alter-child of Dominique.  
Edison turned away "I'm sorry for staring."  
"It's ok. I been treated a lot worse," Dyana sniffed "Does one of

you have a cigarette, I'm kinda tweaking."

Dom excitedly searched her pockets, handed her one, and

otherwise stayed quiet on her big news.

"I'd ask you to start at the beginning but we don't have a lot of

time." Edison said.

"Ok," she took a deep drag. "Ah, thanks! Alright, I... I came back

here and Simon Peller got loose! Maybe it was Alex who let him

go, he's just batshit... I bet it was Alex. The others just... I can't

imagine why they'd let him go... "

"They were plotting something." Kyle said "He was in on it."

"I guess? You're Kyle Cheviot?"  
"Right."  
"She thinks you're awesome," Dyana tried to smile. Kyle tried as

well.  
"The matter at hand." Edison reminded gently.  
"Such as where is my Jenny!?" Bryce demanded.  
"I don't got a clue... "  
"YOU LIE!"  
"I'm not I swear! Alex was doing some experiments in some lab

but I don't know where... I didn't care to ask, me and Christina

just worked on the Simon Peller-thing... they were jealous cos she

was smarter than all of them. Maybe that's why they let him go... "  
Edison turned to Kyle. "How long would it take you to find them?"

Kyle laughed, Edison rubbed his head.  
"Does... does that mean we can't find them? Ever?" Bryce

frowned.

"Well I'm sure Simon Peller will show up in a body

bank sooner rather than later... I want the head! I'll get me one of

them bowling ball bags to carry it around!"

Theora crossed her arms. "What should we do?"  
There was a flapping of wings and everyone looked up to see

Bryce's parrot sitting on the balcony. If it could have smiled, it

would have.  
"Bad Alters hard to find!"  
"Not now, we need to find Jenny... and Christina... "  
"Followed em, and come to look for you! SSQUAWWWK!"  
"Oh, my God! Oh, yay!" Bryce realized.  
The parrot hopped around, turned to the left. He bobbed his head

and ruffled his feathers.  
"That way!"  
"Yeh!" Bryce realized "I could hug you!"  
"No hugs, a name would be nice!"  
"Later, I promise! Ok, where! Where are they!" Bryce asked

excitedly.  
"That way!"  
"Guess he's bad with names of places! Bryce get him a tracking

device. Any idea on your second power, Bryce?" Edison asked.  
Bryce frowned, slumped.  
"Did I mention I'm a little clumsy? I may accidentally hurt Simon

while trying to save him," Kyle giggled.  
Edison glared at him, then turned back to Dyana. "Help us!"  
Dyana nodded, tears dripping down her face. "Christina's my

friend! She's... my hero!"  
"Well, let's hope you get the chance to thank her!" Edison said

firmly.

"She's taken" said Kyle, a wry grin on his face.

Dom and Reg hung behind the others. "What do you think of my

long-lost daughter?"  
"heh! Got all the makings of a little relbel, I'll give her that. Bagging

a person like Simon Peller, can't have been easy! Even for the

likes of her! Scrappy young thing."  
"I can't wait to tell her! Oh, I hope she will like me!  
He took her hand. "come on, we need to get the bus ready."


	22. Chapter 22

note-the lack of visuals disappoint me. some stuff just

doesnt translate well. hopefully you wont find it too

disappointing, enjoy the rest of the show! :)

"Bryce, have you seen Edison I have to talk to him! Well,

what are you doing?"

Bryce looked up as he was affixing the tracker to the

parrots leg. Outside in the normally smoggy day, Ben

Cheviot was slightly puzzled to find Bryce Lynch outdoors.  
"It's an experiment in intelligence... ah... Jenny and I... I'm

really busy, sir."  
"Don't get too busy, Ped Xing is flying in tonight. I'm taking

him to dinner and I want you and Jenny to come."  
"Right, sir. We'll be happy to accompany you."  
"I'm bringing Simon Peller... whether he likes it or not.

There's a matter of funds to discuss... not to mention his

behavior seems erratic... a relief, yes, but still erratic."  
They had decided not to inform Cheviot of what was

happening. He and the others agreed to keep things as

quiet as they could for as long as they could. It was clear

the animosty between Normals and Alters was heating up.  
Bryce wondered if it could erupt in war. Edison seemed to

think it was not a matter of "if", but of "when".

The limo went down one alley, and stopped.  
"What!" Eryn demanded of Frankie the driver.  
"I... I just realized the old post office won't do!"  
Eryn grimaced. "You're right, they hang out there too often!

Dammit!"  
"They?" Peller asked.  
"I know! The old cathedral! It's perfect!" Frankie yelped.  
Eryn smiled. "Yeh, Dyana and... nevermind you don't wanna

know! Frankie, drive!"

"What is this place?!" Peller demanded. Eryn illuminated

the stairway with a flashlight as Frankie followed behind

them, an unconscious Christina  
slung over his shoulder as he gripped the trembling Jenny's

arm.  
"Sanctuary! A church you know."  
"I can see that. Look I need a phone. Vu, cell or otherwise.

I have many resources available to me, and can guarantee

safety for the two of you. The rest will be dealt with

accordingly."

"EEK is that a mouse I HATE mice!" Eryn backed up,

shook Peller's arm. "Kill it!"  
"I don't see anything."  
"No? Thank God. Oh my God I was so afraid!"  
"Now, now, I really didn't see a mouse, so you aren't in

danger."  
In the dark, he slipped an arm around her shoulder. There's

no need to be afraid of such a helpless creature," he

soothed.

"Shiiit," Frankie wispered behind them. "I... almost tripped...

think you go that way."  
"Step carefully, now." Peller encouraged, squeezing Eryn's

shoulder gently.

"We're here!" Eryn said, pulled away from Peller's lustful

grip and knocked rapidly on a door.

Simon Peller thought that knocking was a bit odd. It

seemed like a pattern.  
Before he could ponder it further the door opened, and in

the dim light of the next room, Alex glared at them. He had

on a clown mask, and ripped it off.  
"Hola, dudes! Been expecting you! We're gonna have a

party! Come on in!"  
"We are not here for parties young man we're here for... "  
His words drifted off as the lights came on.  
The large basement was a makeshift lab, with a computer

and a panel of controls on the right, a large gyroscope in

the center of the room, and 2 cages mounted on a platform

and connected at the top by large copper coils. A woman

with brown, curly hair was standing in front of the cage on

the left and taking notes. The mutant, Brain, was doing

some work on the gyroscope, connecting it with cables, to

the cages.

"What's going on!?" Peller demanded.

His question was answered with a kick to the face by

Frankie, knocking Peller out cold.

***  
The Bigtime bus was parked 1/4th of a mile from the ruins

of the cathedral, inside, Edison, Theora, Reg, Dom, Diana,

Bryce and Fang, and the parrot waited anxiously.  
Kyle returned.  
"Same old gang!" he stepped inside. "The good news is,

Simon is scared... I mean terrified... bad news is,

Christina's 'asleep'... her emotions are fluctuating fast, that

happens when she sleeps... "  
"How can she possibly be sleeping at a time like this?!"  
Bryce exclaimed.  
Kyle just glared at him.

~~~  
"Where am I?! were the first words out of the terrified

Christina's mouth.  
She tried to move and couldn't. She found herself standing

upright, legs spread apart and chained to the bars inside a

cage. The same with her arms, except lifted up, her hands

wrapped around steel bars in the cage.  
"Where am I!" she whispered again.

"You... can't do this! Give him my power... with this stupid

contraption... ha... hahaha! Dumbest idea ever! You're no

scientist, you're a quack! No, no! Stop! Please stop!"  
Eryn, Brain and Frankie dragged the poor struggling girl to

the cage on the right, all pushing and pulling the struggling

girl inside, then locking her hands to the bars with metal

handcuffs.  
"You insult me!" Alex jumped up on the platform. "I'm hurt, I

really am! I worked so hard to put this all together. Look,

look, look! I even killed a dog, and a monkey and Peller's

boy, Ronald just to perfect my mutation machine!"  
"You _WHAT!?_" Simon roared from the cage on the left; he

was chained in equal fashion.  
"You... monster! Killer-mutant! Open this cage, mutant! I

demand you let me out!"

"Oh, yeh, like he's really in a position to be giving us

orders!" Brain sneered.

"Help me! Brain?! Brain, get me out of this!"  
Christina now realized her prison wasn't a cage at all, but a

large metal contraption with three large metal rings and she

was in the center ring, strapped to it by her hands and feet

and unable to do more than wiggle slightly.

Brain stepped up to the gyroscope and placed a hand on

the outer ring.  
"Letting you go makes the whole device inoperable. We're

counting on you to give us the power we need, and it's

gonna be a lot of fun!"  
"I thought you cared about me!"  
"I did... well kinda... ok, honestly, I just wanted to fuck you...

we ran out of time... and it does make me a little sad."  
"Bastard!" Tears fell from her eyes.  
Brain tried to kiss her but she pulled her head to the side,

closed her eyes tightly, and squeezing out more tears.

"Any luck yet?" Bryce asked a tense Max.  
"We got lucky, there is a computer in there, but

unfortunately its not hooked into any of their equipment,

which is bad because... well, let me just show you!"  
Edison, Theora, Dom, Dyana and Bryce gathered around

Max and watched.  
"What are they up to?!" Edison growled.  
"I think it's a transfer machine... stupid, it can never work...

but Christina is the battery and that sort of output may well

kill all three!"  
"No!" Bryce said in an angry voice "NO! JENNY!"  
He brought his fist down hard, and stared amazed as it

smashed through the counter, splintering the wood.  
Dom raised an eyebrow. "Well!" was all she could say.  
"Ah... ha... I think I found it!"

Kyle was at the door, feeling out the situation, discerning,

and comprehending.  
"Christina!"  
He turned to the others. "Whatever we're gonna do we have

to do it now!"

"Fire goddes!" Alex said, grabbing the outer rings of the

gyroscope.  
"Bless me oh fire goddess! Ha. Bless me with your unholy

fire!"

"Mutants! Stop this madness!" Peller called out, as Jaxie

started the machine, and the cages began to rise. "Hey

look... ah... what kind of deal can be worked... there's got to

be something... come on just tell me what you want!?"

"Try to get free! Mr. Peller, they're going to electrocute us!"

Jenny cried out.  
"That aint what I want!" Alex yelled "I wanna see this fucker

as a mutant, that's what I wanna see!"  
"It can't work!" Christina cried out, as she watched the

cages finally connect to the coils above.  
She tried to use her power to get loose, but found herself

completely neutered.  
It was like she was normal.  
And for the first time in her life she didn't know if that was a

good thing.

"And the fire goddess is gonna give it to

me!"Ahhahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

"Strength! Bryce! That door! Behind the... Christina!

CHRISTINA!"  
Bryce threw himself at the door. "Open! Aw, not now! Oh

come on!"  
He tried again, this time, making a Bryce-shaped dent in the

door.

"We've been found!" Jaxie said, as Eryn ran for the door.  
"Not yet! Ok, it's party-time!"

"Oh, God!" Christina cried out, as the rings on the

gyroscope began to move. She tried to slip her hands from

the steel bars they were chained to. As she frantically

looked for an escape, she noticed how intricate the

machine was; unless she was mistaken, it seemed

designed for sucking out power.

A matter of will! I'm in control! And I won' hurt another... like

I did to Theora!  
"Oh... my God!" she whispered harshly, as her hands

glowed.  
I have control!  
"Ahhh! She yelled, as electrical fire burst from her

fingertips, and quickly spread out across the spinning rings.

Soon she was enveloped in a circular lightning storm, and

she began screaming!


	23. Chapter 23

"Let me go in! Let me go in as you! Mr. Carter this is my

fault, and I need to make it right!"

Murray looked hard into the vu-phone from control at

Network 23.  
"The news window slams shut in 30. You need to tell me

what you want to do. Edison you know I got your back."  
"Mr. Carter!" Dyana begged, shaking his arm gently. "Give

me your blessing! All they gotta do is see 'you' and it will

give the others more time!"

"We need to wait just a couple minutes!"  
He turned back to the vu-phone  
"No, Murray."  
"It might be better that Cheviot and the other know, before-"  
"Absolutely not!" Edison snapped. He frowned and

narrowed his eyes. Theora took his hand.  
"If anyone else finds out... if they... if Simon dies... that

could be the worst thing ever... "

We're gonna die! Oh, my GOD we're gonna die!"

From her cage, Jenny watched in horror, as the gyroscope

lit up with Christina's power, encasing in a raging hot

miniature lightning-storm, as the electrical sparks lifted off

from the gyroscope, and raced down the wires, towards the

cages that held her and Simon Peller.  
"Bryce! Help me! Come get me! Bryce save me!" she

whispered, as tears streamed down her cheeks.  
"Bryce! BRYCE!"  
The lightning surrounded the cages, and Simon began to

scream like a banshee.  
Jenny noticed it wasn't a painful experience, but the cages

did shake violently, and lit up like daytime.  
_All my fault! This is my punishment!_  
Christina howled painfully, as she seemed to burst into

flames.

***

Bryce finally got through, only to have Eryn and Brain and

Frankie move in.  
"Totally weren't invited!" Eryn hissed.  
Kyle reached out, ready to take Christina's power, until a

pain shot through his head. He instinctively knew what had

happened; someone was attacking him with a mind-power!

He turned his power to the closest source.  
"AYYYIEEEEEEEEE!" Eryn screamed out, falling back, as

Kyle and Bryce ran into the lab.  
It was fast and furious several moments, as Kyle ran to shut

off the machine, as he sent out the terrifying effects of his

stolen power to anyone who dared approach him. Soon,

Frankie, Alex, Brain all fell to the floor.  
"NO!" Jaxie cried out, and she counter-attacked.  
But her curse was that of being a negator; she could

effectively shut off any one else's powers'.

"Weeeell, sheist!" Alex cried out. "AAAG! MY MUTATED

HARD-ON IS GOOOOONE!"  
"Oh... oh crap... I... was nervous... I didn't mean it!" Jaxie

cried out.  
"Like hell!" Brain said. "Alright, get your shit! It's over... for

now!"  
"Nooooooooooooooo!" Alex cried out. "Ahhh, whatever!

you silly children!" He was running around, scooping up his

notes and shoving them in a backpack.  
"Hey," Brain noted; everyone was moving around frantically

except for Eryn.  
She lay in a heap on the floor, eyes wide open, and thick

blood streaming from her ears.  
Frankie came up beside him.  
"Too bad! She was cool!"  
He turned to Kyle and the others. "Another time, then!" he

shouted, before they fled.

"I got you! Jenny! I got you babe!"  
Bryce pulled apart the bars of the cage, broke the

handcuffs and guided her out gently.  
"Your second power!" she awed.  
"Jenny... Jenny? Oh, God I thought I'd lost you!"  
She hugged him tightly around the neck. He pulled back a

little bit, smiled, and kissed her. She smiled back, almost

embarrassed, and yet, not, and smooched him back.  
Edison, Reg, Dom, Dyana and Theora rushed in, as Bryce

was freeing the limp and barely conscious, Simon Peller.

"Mu-tants!" he called out weakly as they got him laid out on

a table, trying to make him comfortable. They all got the

feeling that the "pwer transfer machine" was simply more

than a normal human could take. His skin was pallid, and he

was having moderate palpitations and chest pain.

"Edison!" he called out, ushering the reporter closer.  
"You told me never to call you.. but... my last

moKAFFKAFFKAFF!"

"We need to get you to a hospital Simon!" Edison said.  
"Never! No... nooooo... don't want my li... dont want... "  
He sucked in a ragged breath, fighting for what little energy

he had left.  
"It was a good cause... I tried to save my kind... so I won't

apologize... but... you should know... Edison Carter... I...

won... "  
His last vestige of strength gone, Simon Peller's head

rolled to the side and his eyes closed.

They all stared, they all remained silent. He had no friends

here, or maybe anywhere, but dead was dead, and the

dead deserved a certain amount of respect.

After a few minutes, Edision spoke. It was firm, and direct.  
"Help me get his clothes off... hurry, now!"  
"Whaaat?" Dom said.  
"Eeeew!" Theora said. "Edison that's just... oh! Oh!" and

she set to work helping to undress the late Simon Peller.  
"He didn't win! We won't let him win! Dyana!" Edison shook

her shoulder.  
"I guess! Ok... if it'll help Christina... and you guys... "  
"Kyle!" Theora called out.  
He just sat in the corner, cradling his woman in his arms.  
"Kyle! I'm telling you. She can be fixed!" Max called from

the computer.  
He just sat there, crading her, as she stared at the ceiling

with glazed eyes.  
**THE REAL EPILOGUE**  
~~the next day, Bryce's lab~~  
"Oooh... mommy... mommy? Hay, Max, that's my mommy!"

"That's me?" Christina spoke softly, poking at the screen,

as he long-lost virtual self finally came out of hiding in the

vastness of cyberspace.  
"Isn't she beautiful, Christi0na? Hey just think! You, me,

Bryce and now little Christina... and it is so nice, and I'm

less lonely!"  
Max and the others were breaking the news to her slowly.

The VR. Christina fixed her broken-brain, like Max had done

for Edison during the Neurostim scandal, but she had

memory loss; most of everything after her first

confrontation of Simon Peller was forgotten.  
More to the point, the information may have never been

"recorded", it was a very similar malady, usually seen

among alcoholics in the black-out states.  
Time would tell.  
Kyle returned bringing pizza for lunch.  
"What's up, kids?"  
"Hi, Kyle! Oh, Pizza!" Jenny sighed.  
Bryce took him aside. "We got the body off ok. Early this

morning. Dyana went as Peller and Breughael took the

body with no question. Dyana, she's doing a great job... it's

only been one day but she was stellar at the meeting with

Zik Zak. For a minute even I was confused!"  
"Need to keep up appearances for the time being," Kyle

agreed.  
"Let's go out to the club again? For old time's sake!" Bryce

begged "We can be the four musketeers.  
"You forgot Dyana!"  
"Dyana is neat!" Jenny agreed, gwetting a slice for Bryce

and feeding him bits of it.  
"Dyana a good alter! She gets a cookie!" The parrot said.  
Kyle smiled, went back to Christina.  
"That's a mini-me!" she exclaimed. "I made her apparently,

but can't remember doing it... sit down!"  
She cuddled next to him.  
"Are you my dad?!" VR Christina asked.

"What next, Kyle?"  
"I don't know. I don't want to know really. I just want to be with you."  
She smiled, leaned on him. "I do love you!"

Kyle shifted around, pulled out the small box.  
"Christina Spencer... now, will you marry me?"


End file.
